McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 198 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 56.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 10Elms LLP purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Macquarie dropped their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.33.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $569.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $519.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $439.59 and a 52 week high of $594.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $564.69 and a 200 day moving average of $552.46.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total transaction of $549,372.74. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,630,844.40. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084. Company 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.