Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by BLB&B Advisors LLC

BLB&B Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,537 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 19.5% during the first quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 22,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,632,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Truist Financial set a $638.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $641.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MA opened at $554.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $501.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $577.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $567.43. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.