Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 254 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,968 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its position in Mastercard by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its position in Mastercard by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Tufton Capital Management raised its position in Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,630 shares of company stock worth $168,746,490. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $462.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $357.85 and a one year high of $490.00. The stock has a market cap of $431.39 billion, a PE ratio of 39.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $471.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $436.35.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

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.