998 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Acquired by Advisor Resource Council

Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 998 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 46.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,120,000 after acquiring an additional 4,685 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 55.0% in the first quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 93 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $233,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $540.17.

Mastercard Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $521.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $384.30 and a twelve month high of $527.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $498.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.