Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC Sells 34 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $517.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $494.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $475.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $462.47. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $359.77 and a 52 week high of $501.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $460.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

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.