NovaPoint Capital LLC Acquires 246 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

NovaPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.8% of NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Cove Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 45.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,874 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,425,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $232,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True North Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $630.89.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $565.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $511.34 billion, a PE ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $579.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $560.04. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) 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. 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.50%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, 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 transaction of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,349 shares of company stock valued at $21,372,994. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.