First Personal Financial Services Buys New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 79 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1,166.7% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $540.17.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $524.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $481.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $386.74 and a 52-week high of $528.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $499.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.84.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.