Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Sells 30 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC decreased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in Mastercard by 14.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth $2,938,000. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at about $17,854,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $512.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 179,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,424,643. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $359.77 and a 12-month high of $518.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $476.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $490.23 and a 200-day moving average of $464.93. 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 earnings results 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. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 20.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related 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 owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Citigroup boosted their target price on Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $525.68.

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.