Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 4,063 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 33.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,964 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,063 shares during the quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in Mastercard by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 21,524 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth $20,736,000. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.0% in the first quarter. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the first quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.1%

Mastercard stock opened at $489.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $432.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $497.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $519.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.08.

About Mastercard

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.