Brueske Advisory Services LLC Sells 40 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Brueske Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $4,238,764,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.89.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $569.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $579.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $560.91. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.64 billion, a PE ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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