Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by Smart Money Group LLC

Smart Money Group LLC increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,777 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 19.5% in the first quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 22,400.0% during the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the second quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,632,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Macquarie raised their target price on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $649.26.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $552.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $499.67 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $573.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.44%.

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.