Good Life Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Good Life Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction 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. 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 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. 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 research report on Thursday, August 1st. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas lowered shares of 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.64.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MA traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $512.91. The stock had a trading volume of 592,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,433,723. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $517.05. The firm has a market cap of $476.81 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $484.54 and its 200 day moving average is $463.60.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

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.