Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,573 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 64 shares during the period. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of MA stock traded up $2.58 on Friday, reaching $516.34. 2,604,684 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,442,889. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $359.77 and a twelve month high of $518.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $480.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.05, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $486.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.21.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MA. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.64.

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.