Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $3.25 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,791 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial set a $638.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.96.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.4%

Mastercard stock opened at $571.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $516.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $579.25 and a 200-day moving average of $566.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors 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 (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

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.