Gries Financial LLC Acquires 380 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Gries Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 17.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,449 shares of company stock valued at $21,974,441 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $584.64 on Tuesday. 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 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $528.52 billion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $577.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $559.42.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.50%.

Mastercard 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.