Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Financial Advocates Investment Management

Financial Advocates Investment Management trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 373 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Robbins Farley boosted its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Tacita Capital Inc raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $527.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $554.39 and a 200 day moving average of $563.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $473.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MA. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price target on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $656.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.27.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.