First Command Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,175 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial set a $638.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.96.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $573.72 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $579.51 and its 200 day moving average is $566.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.65 billion, a PE ratio of 38.69, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. 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 (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

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.