Great Lakes Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,692 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $30,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% during the second quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.0% during the second quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 869 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.6% during the second quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. New World Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% during the second quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 3,409 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. 74.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MA. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $435.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $496.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $435.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $424.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $450.09.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $400.30 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $336.43 and a 52-week high of $418.60. The stock has a market cap of $375.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $395.21 and a 200-day moving average of $391.43.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The credit services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.18. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.85% and a return on equity of 188.83%. The company had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 9th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 5th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.65, for a total value of $2,481,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,450.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.65, for a total transaction of $2,481,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,450.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy H. Murphy sold 7,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.28, for a total transaction of $2,947,420.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,496,700.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 533,424 shares of company stock worth $206,051,295. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Mastercard

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.