Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 1,630 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,630 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $15,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 986 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total transaction of $8,220,537.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $34,196,757.55. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,453 shares of company stock valued at $20,178,667. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $574.42 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $563.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $553.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $453.46 and a twelve month high of $594.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $519.28 billion, a PE ratio of 38.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) 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 firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Mastercard 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.