Circle Wealth Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Circle Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Circle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 2,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Macquarie cut their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.25.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MA opened at $566.11 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $532.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $532.35. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The firm has a market cap of $516.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Profile

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.