Demars Financial Group LLC Has $516.81 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 50,438.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 981,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 979,518 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 1.6% of Demars Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Demars Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $516,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 4,990 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,464,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group increased its position in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 2,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,124,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 18.5% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $607.96.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $513.71 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $539.77 and a 200-day moving average of $528.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The firm has a market cap of $468.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.