Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Purchases 23 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,395 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.6% of Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,939 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420 shares during the last quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. waypoint wealth counsel grew its position in Mastercard by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd grew its position in Mastercard by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd now owns 341,413 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $191,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,898 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.04.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

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

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE MA opened at $556.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $503.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $581.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $562.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.