Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 73 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,503 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $2,938,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’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 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $524.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $481.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $386.74 and a 1-year high of $528.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $499.68 and its 200 day moving average is $468.84.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MA. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mastercard from $540.00 to $544.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.17.

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.