Darden Wealth Group Inc Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Darden Wealth Group Inc lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,835 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 1.2% of Darden Wealth Group Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Darden Wealth Group Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Burling Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.4% in the first quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,564 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,079,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 357.8% in the first quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,309,000 after buying an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 5,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,761,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in Mastercard by 20.1% in the first quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 42,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,507,000 after buying an additional 7,186 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MA. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.90.

Read Our Latest Report on Mastercard

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $536,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,229,440. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA traded down $3.29 on Friday, hitting $552.33. 270,622 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,836,555. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $567.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $548.26. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $594.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $503.56 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.32%.

Mastercard Company Profile

(Free Report)

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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