Brown Shipley& Co Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 88 shares during the period. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westhampton Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 4,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Hansen & Associates Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,155,000. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 152,117 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $85,481,000 after purchasing an additional 41,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2%

MA opened at $569.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $579.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $560.91. The company has a market cap of $514.64 billion, a PE ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.99. 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 quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MA. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $630.89.

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.