Advisors Preferred LLC Has $373,000 Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Advisors Preferred LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 619 shares during the quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 455 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. now owns 551 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $713.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $647.89.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $544.05 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $575.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market cap of $491.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.