Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 0.8%, holding 72,468 shares valued at approximately $39.7 million.
• Mastercard's latest earnings report showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.15, exceeding estimates and marking a 16.8% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Following recent transactions, insiders have reduced their holdings by as much as 3.62%, with insider sales totaling over $20 million in the last three months.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,468 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $39,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 10Elms LLP bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $536,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at $13,229,440. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,453 shares of company stock valued at $20,178,667 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $1.6290 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $585.7690. The stock had a trading volume of 2,334,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,548,391. The business's fifty day moving average is $563.22 and its 200-day moving average is $555.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market cap of $529.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.50, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $461.90 and a 1-year high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.93.

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.