Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,627 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 12.5% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,185,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.8% during the first quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MA opened at $513.73 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $359.77 and a one year high of $518.82. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $490.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $464.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.