Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,601 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 113 shares during the period. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 145.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,974,478,000 after buying an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,608,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,803,956,000 after buying an additional 605,909 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.88.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 720,467 shares of company stock valued at $331,875,955 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MA opened at $493.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $458.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $460.67 and a 200 day moving average of $460.18. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $359.77 and a 1-year high of $496.85.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.99%.

About Mastercard

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.