Advisors Preferred LLC Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Advisors Preferred LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 56.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,280 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 10Elms LLP bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $4.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $568.18. 1,513,080 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,575,199. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $432.11 and a 12 month high of $594.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $565.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $550.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.31 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.90.

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.