Icon Advisers Inc. Co. Sells 650 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Icon Advisers Inc. Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,965 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.4% of Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,421,213,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,725,317,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $4,238,764,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $551.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $495.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $559.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $568.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Macquarie raised their price objective on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $652.50.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.