HighMark Wealth Management LLC Trims Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

HighMark Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 221 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 19 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,683,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 36.4% during the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the second quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,632,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $630.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $577.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $522.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $580.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $561.32. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.