Aviva PLC Buys 245 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 673,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.8% of Aviva PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $378,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.26.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $551.98 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $572.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.95. The company has a market capitalization of $499.00 billion, a PE ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.