Advisors Asset Management Inc. Purchases 2,013 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. has increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.7%, now holding 123,332 shares worth approximately $67.6 million, making it the firm's 8th largest position.
• Mastercard recently reported quarterly earnings of $4.15 EPS, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $8.13 billion—a significant 16.8% increase year-over-year.
• Equities analysts have a generally positive outlook on Mastercard, with two analysts rating it as a Strong Buy and an average target price of $623.03.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,332 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 1.3% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $67,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its stake 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 worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 9.4% in the first quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida boosted its stake in Mastercard by 36.4% in the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 18.0% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% in the first quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 22,640 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $12,409,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $626.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,481 shares of company stock valued at $32,616,595 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA traded down $11.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $584.21. 2,432,106 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,252,842. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $528.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $572.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $557.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.