Aviance Capital Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,227 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,370 shares of company stock worth $46,797,168 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas cut Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $521.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $478.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $504.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $471.95. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $398.26 and a 12 month high of $534.03.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.97%.

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.