Centaurus Financial Inc. Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,444 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.7% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $11,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.4% during the third quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. now owns 3,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 49.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 5.7% during the third quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 858 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $1,540,000. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.1% during the third quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Compass Point started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $520.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $506.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $473.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $404.32 and a 1-year high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $478.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

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.