Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Purchases 1,955 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,068 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,955 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Susquehanna increased their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $532.32.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.9 %

MA traded up $9.44 on Friday, hitting $509.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,508,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,439,606. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $466.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $470.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $378.48 and a 52-week high of $527.90.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.18%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was 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 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.