Mastercard Incorporated $MA is Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. has reduced its holdings in Mastercard by 4.1% but maintains the stock as its 2nd largest position, valued at approximately $130.7 million.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Mastercard, with ratings including buy from multiple firms and an average target price of $634.04.
• Mastercard has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with the dividend payout ratio standing at 20.5%.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 4.3% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $130,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $634.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.0%

MA stock opened at $566.35 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-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. The company has a market capitalization of $511.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.19, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $580.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $564.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

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.

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