Investment Advisory Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $259,071,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $203,198,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 13.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,293,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,586,107,000 after purchasing an additional 387,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,423,320. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,423,320. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MA stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $507.23. 2,883,563 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,440,577. The stock has a market cap of $471.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $482.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $463.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $359.77 and a 52-week high of $509.88.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. Equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $523.27.

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.