IFP Advisors Inc Raises Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $44,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.2%

Mastercard stock opened at $563.77 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. 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 stock has a market cap of $509.65 billion, a PE ratio of 38.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $581.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $562.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.04.

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.