Sunbelt Securities Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. BNP Paribas downgraded Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.70.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $493.64 on Monday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $470.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $461.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $458.90 billion, a PE ratio of 39.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.