Capital Investment Counsel LLC Has $6.49 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Capital Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,144 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Oldfather Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.6% during the third quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 455 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Guerra Pan Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MA. Barclays upped their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $520.86 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $404.32 and a 12-month high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $478.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $506.91 and a 200 day moving average of $473.69. 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. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 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.