American Planning Services Inc. Makes New $2.54 Million Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

American Planning Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,539,000. Mastercard accounts for about 1.8% of American Planning Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,986,604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,758,773,000 after acquiring an additional 227,111 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 55.6% during the second quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 12.2% during the second quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 39,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,214,000 after purchasing an additional 4,243 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 76.1% in the second quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,417,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MA opened at $493.36 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $496.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $460.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.18. The firm has a market cap of $458.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.07, for a total transaction of $50,068,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,672,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,801,697,969.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.07, for a total transaction of $50,068,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,672,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,801,697,969.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.06, for a total transaction of $4,072,169.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,585,476.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 720,467 shares of company stock worth $331,875,955. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $505.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.88.

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.