Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc Makes New Investment in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 755 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $44,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.6%

Mastercard stock opened at $576.40 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $581.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $562.55. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $521.07 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.04.

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.