ASB Consultores LLC Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

ASB Consultores LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 698 shares during the quarter. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $694,000. Finally, Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total value of $62,540,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,152,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,762,504,462.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total value of $62,540,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,762,504,462.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 605,124 shares of company stock worth $280,045,189 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.08.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $493.01 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $465.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $460.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $359.77 and a 52 week high of $501.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $458.31 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

About Mastercard

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.