Certified Advisory Corp Has $9.69 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Certified Advisory Corp increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,629 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.1% of Certified Advisory Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $259,071,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after acquiring an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Macquarie boosted their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $520.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $477.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $506.91 and its 200-day moving average is $473.55. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $404.32 and a 52-week high of $534.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.