Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 655 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 31 shares during the quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Mastercard by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,916 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,571,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 22,871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,090,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 30,070 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,266,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,214,293 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $535,697,000 after purchasing an additional 20,508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $529.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $485.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $411.60 and a 52-week high of $536.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $517.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $481.15.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Mizuho increased their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Company 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.