Highland Capital Management LLC Acquires 6,001 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 132.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,537 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 31.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. MBL Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% during the second quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,872 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,862,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hill Island Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Finally, BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:MA opened at $581.08 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $525.30 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $580.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $561.85.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 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 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.89.

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.