Hantz Financial Services Inc. Sells 4,424 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 86,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,424 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.8% of Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $42,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 21.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $3.90 during trading on Thursday, reaching $532.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,086,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,465,729. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $508.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $475.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $404.32 and a 12 month high of $534.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $488.63 billion, a PE ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

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.