Financial Security Advisor Inc. Buys New Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Financial Security Advisor Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 424 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 55.0% during the first quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 93 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $505.53 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a market cap of $467.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $384.20 and a 12-month high of $527.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $497.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $467.65.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.17.

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.