Clarity Financial LLC Has $334,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Clarity Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 676 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $334,000 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 stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 55.0% in the 1st quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 93 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. 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 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas lowered Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Compass Point assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.17.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MA opened at $505.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $467.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $496.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $467.30. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $384.20 and a 1 year high of $527.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.4 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

About Mastercard

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.