Wharton Business Group LLC Sells 24 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wharton Business Group LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 541 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Wharton Business Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 46.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,120,000 after purchasing an additional 4,685 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.9% during the first quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 2,965 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 144.6% during the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 352,200 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $169,609,000 after acquiring an additional 208,200 shares during the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.2% during the first quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 111,197 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $53,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 70.6% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 10,858 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,229,000 after acquiring an additional 4,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 99,370 shares of company stock worth $46,797,168. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2 %

MA opened at $522.93 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $504.09 and a 200 day moving average of $471.38. The company has a market cap of $479.96 billion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $398.26 and a 12 month high of $534.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

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.