Advisory Alpha LLC Grows Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.6% during the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.9% during the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.6% during the second quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.8% during the second quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.2% during the second quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 approximately $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $565.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $578.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $567.21. The stock has a market cap of $511.48 billion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 20.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $638.96.

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.