Sharp Financial Services LLC Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Sharp Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 375 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth about $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $556.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $503.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $581.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $562.90.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.04.

Mastercard 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.