Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Lowered by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 122,981 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 10,380 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 3.1% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $69,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,508,636,000 after buying an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3,493.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $524,914,000 after purchasing an additional 908,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $568.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $514.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.34, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $578.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $559.55.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $630.89.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $536,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at $13,229,440. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,449 shares of company stock valued at $21,974,441 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.