VitalStone Financial LLC Acquires 845 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

VitalStone Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5,633.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. VitalStone Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $259,071,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $203,198,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $523.27.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $502.26 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $480.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.88. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $359.77 and a fifty-two week high of $502.92. The company has a market cap of $466.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

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.