Ethos Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 19.5% in Q1, owning 3,174 shares valued at approximately $1.68 million.
• Mastercard reported earnings of $4.15 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst estimates and indicating a 16.8% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The firm's quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share represents an annualized yield of 0.5%, with a dividend payout ratio of 20.50%.

Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 19.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,174 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Mastercard by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 70,472 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,108,000 after purchasing an additional 7,452 shares during the period. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $73,000. Trustco Bank Corp N Y bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 3,940 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,075,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA traded up $1.6290 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $585.7690. 2,334,029 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,548,391. The firm has a market cap of $529.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $461.90 and a 52 week high of $594.71. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $563.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $555.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of Mastercard 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 of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $536,480.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,229,440. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,453 shares of company stock worth $20,178,667. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.93.

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.