Crews Bank & Trust Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Crews Bank & Trust cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% in the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% in the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.8% in the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.6% in the first quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the first quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 986 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $577.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $580.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $561.32. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $522.30 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.