Washington Trust Bank Increases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Washington Trust Bank increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,962 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,674 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.9% of Washington Trust Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $23,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $647.59.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $553.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $500.42 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $573.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.44%.

Mastercard Company 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.