Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 423 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 1.3% of Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $15,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 10Elms LLP bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $626.54.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $580.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $574.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $558.35. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $525.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.16, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,229,440. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,094 shares of company stock valued at $26,521,861 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.