Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Buys 145 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 145 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 0.7% of Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Simmons Bank grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 5,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 10,322 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,715,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,665,483 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,989,875,000 after acquiring an additional 107,953 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Mastercard by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,319 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,735 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,829,000 after buying an additional 8,513 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 872,088 shares of company stock valued at $395,452,118 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.27.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE MA traded up $1.71 on Wednesday, hitting $454.77. 2,306,003 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,469,559. The company has a market cap of $424.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.93, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $468.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $439.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.