Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.8% during 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 buying an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 48.6% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD purchased a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $17,854,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $521.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $395.55 and a 12-month high of $534.03. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $504.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.18.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company 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.