Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.2% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $75,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 73.2% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 22,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,632,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $713.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.50.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $545.31 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $489.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $568.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $569.93.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.