Claro Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 259.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,931 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,338 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.6% of Claro Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Claro Advisors LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.5 %

MA traded up $2.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $516.45. 2,604,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,442,889. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $463.95. The firm has a market cap of $480.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $518.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America increased their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $524.64.

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.