Peterson Financial Group Inc. Invests $67,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 137 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $67,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’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 value of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $521.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $504.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $395.55 and a 1 year high of $534.03.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

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.