Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys 3,083 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 742.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,498 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Robinswood Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Mastercard by 820.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE MA opened at $598.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $545.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $518.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $524.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.62.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total value of $8,838,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,873,475. This represents a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 71,357 shares of company stock valued at $40,637,262 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $701.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Clear Str raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $664.71.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.