Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Davies Financial Advisors Inc.

Davies Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,009 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.9% of Davies Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Davies Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MA. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $259,071,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,198,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. William Blair upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.96.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $1.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $500.01. The company had a trading volume of 645,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,433,439. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $359.77 and a 1-year high of $501.80. The firm has a market cap of $461.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $479.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $462.90.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,423,320. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.