Stokes Family Office LLC Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,407 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $505.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $498.57.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.8 %

Mastercard stock traded up $3.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $440.07. 2,645,605 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,485,778. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $449.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.20. The company has a market capitalization of $409.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.09. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $359.77 and a 52-week high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total transaction of $50,743,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,432,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,541,179,602.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total transaction of $50,743,650.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,432,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,541,179,602.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,163,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,428,540,870 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.