North Star Investment Management Corp. Acquires 21 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,456 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $568.63 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $514.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.34, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $578.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $559.55.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,449 shares of company stock worth $21,974,441 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $630.89.

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.