Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Means Investment CO. Inc.

Means Investment CO. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,612 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Fortis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 9.4% in the first quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida increased its stake in Mastercard by 36.4% in the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of MA stock opened at $556.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $503.35 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $581.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $562.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

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.