Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Ranch Capital Advisors Inc.

Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 19.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 27.6% during the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.6% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,092 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,561,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Mastercard by 18.9% during the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 641 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $573.72 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $579.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $518.65 billion, a PE ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

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.