Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Ballast Inc.

Ballast Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 34.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,855,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 28,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,795,000 after buying an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 5,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,257,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cove Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,424 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,973,000 after buying an additional 2,415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total transaction of $8,220,537.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,196,757.55. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,453 shares of company stock valued at $20,178,667 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $574.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $519.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $563.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $553.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $453.46 and a 52 week high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.33.

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.