Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 548 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,061 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 10.6% during the third quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 405,395 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $200,184,000 after purchasing an additional 18,555 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Mastercard by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 73,199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,146,000 after purchasing an additional 25,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,393 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $530.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $483.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $551.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $528.13. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 target price (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

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.