King Wealth Management Group Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

King Wealth Management Group cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 576 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.3% of King Wealth Management Group’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. King Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. The trade was a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE MA opened at $520.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $477.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.36, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $394.76 and a twelve month high of $534.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $502.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $470.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Compass Point started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $547.80.

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.