Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Raised by Howe & Rusling Inc.

Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,322 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point set a $620.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $713.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $652.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $529.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $475.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.73, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. 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 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $565.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $569.52.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.44%.

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.