Wharton Business Group LLC Sells 24 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wharton Business Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 541 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Wharton Business Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MA opened at $522.93 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $398.26 and a 12 month high of $534.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $504.09 and its 200-day moving average is $471.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.96 billion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

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.