WP Advisors LLC Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

WP Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after acquiring an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after purchasing an additional 542,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MA opened at $555.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $569.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $569.64. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $498.49 billion, a PE ratio of 37.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced 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 firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.50.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

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.