Optimum Investment Advisors Cuts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Optimum Investment Advisors cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,765 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 1.2% of Optimum Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. VestGen Investment Management purchased a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $836,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% during the second quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 17,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,910,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the second quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,726,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 13.6% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,440,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.0% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,375 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,954,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Truist Financial set a $638.00 target price on Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $638.96.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:MA opened at $573.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $518.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $579.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $566.01. 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 (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

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.