Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Purchases 37,720 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 254.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,563 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,720 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $25,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $259,071,000. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 13.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,293,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,586,107,000 after purchasing an additional 387,317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 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 owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $505.50. The company had a trading volume of 66,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,437,729. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $496.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.30. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $384.20 and a 52 week high of $527.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $467.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie raised their target price on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.17.

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.