Advisory Alpha LLC Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 32.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $505.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 110,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.43, for a total value of $48,557,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 94,014,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,500,735,980.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.00, for a total transaction of $136,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,463 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,202. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 110,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.43, for a total value of $48,557,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,014,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,500,735,980.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,163,228 shares of company stock worth $1,428,540,870 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $2.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $439.21. 781,745 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,471,249. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $359.77 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The firm has a market cap of $408.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $449.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

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.