Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Holdings Increased by CWS Financial Advisors LLC

CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,498 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 10Elms LLP bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price objective 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 report on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $617.93.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $584.38 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $528.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $563.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $554.81. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $461.90 and a 52 week high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were given 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 was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,453 shares of company stock valued at $20,178,667. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.