Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $10.66 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 2.0% of Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 484 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $462.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,963,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,212,406. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $471.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $436.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $431.39 billion, a PE ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $357.85 and a one year high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.32%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $21,388,649.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,388,649.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,630 shares of company stock worth $168,746,490. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.23.

Mastercard Company 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.