Certified Advisory Corp Purchases 181 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Certified Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,629 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 181 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.1% of Certified Advisory Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% in the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 9,537 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,709,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. GenTrust LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $520.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $506.91 and a 200-day moving average of $473.55. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $404.32 and a one year high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $477.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

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.