Continuum Advisory LLC Acquires 196 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $551.42.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $528.57 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.14 billion, a PE ratio of 39.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $513.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $478.81. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $409.23 and a 12-month high of $535.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.