Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,984 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

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

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $554.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $577.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $567.43. The stock has a market cap of $501.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $641.93.

Mastercard 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.