Aviance Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,866 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 820.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. First Pacific Financial raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $543.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $480.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $503.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $516.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.73 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.92.

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.