Ascentis Independent Advisors Has $2.32 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Ascentis Independent Advisors increased its Mastercard stake by 90.2% in the first quarter, ending with 4,642 shares valued at about $2.32 million.
• Mastercard continues to draw broad institutional and analyst support, with 97.28% of shares held by institutions and Wall Street consensus at a Buy rating with an average price target of $654.58.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share to be paid on August 7.

Ascentis Independent Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 90.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,642 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Ascentis Independent Advisors' holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 91,580 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $45,759,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,551 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 47.1% during the 1st quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,296 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,601 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,797,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 1,722 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $654.58.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $533.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $471.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $497.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $518.61. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.73 EPS. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,625,225. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

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