Wealth Alliance Trims Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wealth Alliance cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VitalStone Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.07, for a total value of $50,068,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 92,672,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,801,697,969.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,423,320. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.07, for a total transaction of $50,068,770.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,672,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,801,697,969.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 725,152 shares of company stock valued at $334,186,128. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $501.22 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $462.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $460.52. The company has a market capitalization of $465.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $501.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

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.