B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,301 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $493.64 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $359.77 and a 52-week high of $501.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $470.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $461.76. The company has a market capitalization of $458.90 billion, a PE ratio of 39.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.70.

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.