Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 476 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 476 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,584,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,399,279,000 after acquiring an additional 330,872 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Mastercard by 0.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,651,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,574,347,000 after purchasing an additional 43,881 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,241,297,000 after purchasing an additional 71,569 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,327,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,908,973,000 after acquiring an additional 113,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $520.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $477.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $502.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $470.24. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $394.76 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock worth $97,749,218 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen upped 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. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $547.80.

Mastercard 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.