WD Rutherford LLC Increases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

WD Rutherford LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises 2.0% of WD Rutherford LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MA shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $512.09.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MA traded down $2.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $466.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,986,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,469,403. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $359.77 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The firm has a market cap of $433.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $450.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $458.50.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,423,320. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,733,175 shares of company stock valued at $782,773,546. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.