Mastercard Incorporated $MA is Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,317 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 397 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 2.6% of Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.5% during the second quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 6,182 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,474,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 8.3% during the second quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 1,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in Mastercard by 31.4% during the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 6,230 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,950,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 64.3% during the second quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MA. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.04.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $556.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $581.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $562.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $503.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

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.