Vest Financial LLC Purchases 4,392 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,821 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,392 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $558.89 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $580.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $563.03. The company has a market cap of $505.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS 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 business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.50 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.04.

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.