Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,039 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,466 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 1.4% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $26,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Mastercard by 87.4% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 16.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 4th 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 lifted its position 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 during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded down $9.25 on Thursday, hitting $443.13. 3,313,834 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,447,406. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $359.77 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. The stock has a market cap of $411.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $452.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $452.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The firm 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%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MA. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $496.91.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total value of $50,743,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 97,432,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,541,179,602.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,163,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,428,540,870. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.