Avestar Capital LLC Has $2.50 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,062 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas lowered Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.1 %

MA opened at $526.60 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $507.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $474.33. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $404.32 and a 1-year high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $483.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

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.