Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 49.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,241,297,000 after acquiring an additional 71,569 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,327,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,908,973,000 after purchasing an additional 113,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,250,760 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,875,266,000 after purchasing an additional 38,380 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $520.86 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $506.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $473.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $404.32 and a twelve month high of $534.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market capitalization of $478.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MA shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas lowered Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard 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.