Linscomb Wealth Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 220 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,854,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

Mastercard stock traded up $2.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $522.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 520,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,443,630. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $503.18 and its 200 day moving average is $470.59. The company has a market cap of $479.91 billion, a PE ratio of 39.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $395.55 and a 52-week high of $534.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, 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 a total of 208,370 shares of company stock worth $97,749,218 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. BNP Paribas downgraded Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Macquarie increased their target price on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $547.80.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.