Gradient Investments LLC Has $4.88 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Gradient Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Get Rating) by 64.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 24,904 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 135,993 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,905 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 174,257 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,548,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 747.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 6,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after purchasing an additional 5,469 shares in the last quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resources Investment Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 4,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 17,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.43, for a total transaction of $6,418,884.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,379,827.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 17,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.43, for a total transaction of $6,418,884.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,379,827.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.99, for a total value of $7,519,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,579 shares in the company, valued at $8,113,488.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 655,522 shares of company stock worth $242,724,561. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Mastercard from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Mastercard from $405.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Redburn Partners assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, November 29th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Mastercard from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on Mastercard from $395.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.41.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $349.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $365.66 and a 200-day moving average of $340.32. The company has a market cap of $333.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $276.87 and a one year high of $390.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The credit services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.79 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 158.38% and a net margin of 44.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 7th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 5th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 22.31%.

Mastercard Company Profile

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Mastercard, Inc is a technology company, which engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial, and payment programs. The company was founded in November 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, NY.