Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,512 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 29 shares during the quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 483.3% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $607.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MA opened at $513.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $468.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $539.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $528.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard Company 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.