Stratos Investment Management LLC Purchases 487 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,859 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 487 shares during the quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3,493.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $524,914,000 after purchasing an additional 908,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $549.67 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $496.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $580.48 and its 200 day moving average is $563.07.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.