Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Buys 5,007 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,007 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 2.2% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $48,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $638.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $571.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $579.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $566.75.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Mastercard Company 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.