Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Holdings Lessened by Ayrshire Capital Management LLC

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,284 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 3.5% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 9.4% in the first quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 36.4% in the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 18.0% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 607,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $333,095,000 after acquiring an additional 3,001 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $597.99 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $576.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $558.80. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $540.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $536,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,229,440. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 49,094 shares of company stock valued at $26,521,861. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.89.

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.