Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of 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 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $521.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $504.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $471.95. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $398.26 and a 52-week high of $534.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $478.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors 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 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. BNP Paribas downgraded Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

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.