RiverFront Investment Group LLC Has $1.70 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $652.50.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MA opened at $536.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $562.38 and a 200-day moving average of $568.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.89 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.