Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,227 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 19.5% in the first quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida raised its holdings in Mastercard by 36.4% during the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.04.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $556.80 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market cap of $503.35 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $581.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $562.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.