Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 23.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $35,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE MA opened at $521.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $504.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.18. 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 one year low of $395.55 and a one year high of $534.03. The firm has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for 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%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given 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 payout ratio is 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MA shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie raised their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

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.