Peloton Wealth Strategists Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Peloton Wealth Strategists lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,863 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 3.2% of Peloton Wealth Strategists’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Peloton Wealth Strategists’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,565,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,686,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Relative Value Partners Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Relative Value Partners Group LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MA. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas cut shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.70.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $493.34 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $470.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $461.94. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $359.77 and a 12-month high of $501.80. The firm has a market cap of $458.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.22, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,423,320. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,423,320. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company 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.