Advocate Group LLC Has $4.08 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Advocate Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,584,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,399,279,000 after buying an additional 330,872 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,651,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,574,347,000 after purchasing an additional 43,881 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,241,297,000 after buying an additional 71,569 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Mastercard by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,327,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,908,973,000 after buying an additional 113,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,250,760 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,875,266,000 after buying an additional 38,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,423,320. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded down $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $499.64. The stock had a trading volume of 166,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,435,805. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $479.26 and a 200-day moving average of $462.66. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $359.77 and a one year high of $501.80. The stock has a market cap of $464.47 billion, a PE ratio of 39.71, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. William Blair upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.96.

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.