Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 327 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,092 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $11,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aspetuck Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $530,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the first quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New World Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 15.9% in the first quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $611.50.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $546.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $498.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $594.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $562.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $545.20.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total value of $87,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,255 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,900. This trade represents a 4.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 310 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.00, for a total transaction of $173,910.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,669,203. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,383 shares of company stock worth $19,035,108 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.