Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,565 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $532.32.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $9.14 on Friday, hitting $508.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 858,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,436,542. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $378.48 and a 52-week high of $527.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $494.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $466.50. The company has a market capitalization of $469.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.