Welch & Forbes LLC Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 87.4% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its holdings in Mastercard by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 49,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,129,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,124 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 142,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $442.14, for a total value of $62,783,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,377,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,612,262,959.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 142,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.14, for a total transaction of $62,783,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,377,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,612,262,959.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 872,088 shares of company stock worth $395,452,118. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $3.76 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $453.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,345,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,471,482. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $468.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $439.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $357.85 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The company has a market capitalization of $422.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.22 EPS for the current year.

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.