3,513 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Purchased by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,513 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,734,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MA. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $559.28.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock traded up $5.44 on Wednesday, reaching $534.45. 1,956,914 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,459,190. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $490.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.28, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $515.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $411.60 and a 12 month high of $535.89.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.