Nvest Financial LLC Purchases 55 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Nvest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Whalerock Point Partners LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,729,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 18.0% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $6,022,224,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $640.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $550.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $501.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $561.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $545.04. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 196.87% and a net margin of 45.21%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total transaction of $8,220,537.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total value of $85,417.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,024,394.75. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,115 shares of company stock worth $18,324,718. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

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.