Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by Aviso Financial Inc.

Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,633 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8%

Mastercard stock opened at $536.24 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.54 billion, a PE ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $562.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Compass Point set a $620.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $652.50.

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.