Advisory Alpha LLC Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Advisory Alpha LLC cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 51.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 825 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 858 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Client Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 867 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 786 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.3% in the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 15,002 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $8,110,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 52.8% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 483 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 valued at $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total transaction of $85,417.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,024,394.75. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $640.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $633.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $610.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $582.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,116,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,606,109. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $530.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day moving average is $544.56 and its 200 day moving average is $540.21. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $588.45.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.31 earnings per share. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.