Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Trimmed by GHP Investment Advisors Inc.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,160 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 426 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

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

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $552.59 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $576.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $568.44. The company has a market cap of $499.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $647.89.

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.