Stiles Financial Services Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Stiles Financial Services Inc reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Oldfather Financial Services LLC raised 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 buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Quilter Plc raised its position in Mastercard by 2.8% during the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 0.5% during the third 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 during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MA. Bank of America upped their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie upped their target price on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer began coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total value of $50,952,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $517.88 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $498.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.02. 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 firm has a market cap of $478.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $386.74 and a 1-year high of $527.90.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

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.