San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,517 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 949 shares during the period. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.89.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of MA stock opened at $565.63 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $511.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $579.00 and its 200 day moving average is $560.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,349 shares of company stock worth $21,372,994 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by 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.