Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 89.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 1.3% of Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $647.59.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $552.68 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $574.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.88. 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 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $499.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

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