Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by SSA Swiss Advisors AG

SSA Swiss Advisors AG cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,260 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 620 shares during the period. SSA Swiss Advisors AG’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,092 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,561,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in Mastercard by 18.9% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 641 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0%

Mastercard stock opened at $573.72 on Friday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $579.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $565.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $638.96.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard 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.