Blair William & Co. IL Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Blair William & Co. IL cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 955,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 21,409 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 1.5% of Blair William & Co. IL’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.11% of Mastercard worth $545,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.1%

MA opened at $501.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $442.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $499.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $522.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.04.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.