Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,660 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 19.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 27.6% during the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.6% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,092 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,561,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 18.9% during the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 641 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related 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 transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.96.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $573.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $579.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $565.40. 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 $518.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 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 Dividend Announcement

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%.

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.