Taurus Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Taurus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,755 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 74.0% during 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 last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $521.89 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $479.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $504.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $471.38. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $395.55 and a 12 month high of $534.03.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

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.