Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Affinity Capital Advisors LLC

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MAFree Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,802 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 113 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.4% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 348 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Visionary Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 5,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Tufton Capital Management grew its position in Mastercard by 5.1% in the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 578 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 74.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $476.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Mastercard from $425.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $476.35.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Mastercard

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total transaction of $43,072.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,407.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,428 shares of company stock valued at $23,211,617. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $485.32. The company had a trading volume of 754,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,427,788. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $457.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $452.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $346.31 and a 52 week high of $486.61.

Mastercard (NYSE:MAGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.32%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

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