SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. Raises Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 158.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $337,000. Accel Wealth Management boosted its stake in Mastercard by 6.2% during the first quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 671 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in Mastercard by 35.6% during the first quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 411 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 6.7% during the first quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target on the stock. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $630.89.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $577.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $522.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $580.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $561.32. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,391 shares of company stock worth $20,836,514 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.09% 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.