Americana Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Americana Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,955 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.6% during the third quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded up $9.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $509.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,644,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,440,251. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $378.48 and a 1 year high of $527.90. The company has a market cap of $470.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $494.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $466.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $532.32.

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.