Occidental Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 511 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fragasso Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 12.9% during the second quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 1,115 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 808 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,908 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% during the first quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,423,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.88, for a total value of $1,655,520.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,580,541.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.88, for a total transaction of $1,655,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,580,541.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 6,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,533,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,596,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 415,267 shares of company stock valued at $164,793,283 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $442.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. 888 reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $442.83.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $417.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $276.87 and a fifty-two week high of $418.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $401.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $381.97. The company has a market capitalization of $393.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.05. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.10% and a net margin of 43.37%. The company had revenue of $6.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.37%.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.