Spire Wealth Management Lowers Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Spire Wealth Management trimmed its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,990 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 7,638 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial set a $638.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.96.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $553.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $500.72 billion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $578.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $567.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company 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 company posted $3.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 presently 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.