Financial Advocates Investment Management Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Financial Advocates Investment Management cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 82.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 373 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Robbins Farley lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tacita Capital Inc boosted its position in Mastercard by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $527.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $554.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a market cap of $473.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price target on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $611.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.27.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.