Private Advisory Group LLC Purchases 2,516 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

Error: Response status code does not indicate success: 429 (Too Many Requests).

Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 22.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,552 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,516 shares during the period. Private Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MA. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 10Elms LLP acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Macquarie lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $615.33.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA traded down $6.74 on Friday, hitting $559.73. 3,316,713 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,427,760. The firm has a market capitalization of $510.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The business's fifty day moving average is $564.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $551.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $439.59 and a 12 month high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard's revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total transaction of $8,220,537.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,196,757.55. The trade was a 19.38% 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 Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.