Brown Financial Advisors Makes New Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $673,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.0% in the first quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 794 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 6,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have assigned 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 $517.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,423,320. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MA opened at $495.67 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $359.77 and a one year high of $501.80. The firm has a market cap of $460.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $474.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $462.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

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.