Alley Investment Management Company LLC Reduces Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Alley Investment Management Company LLC reduced its stake in Mastercard by 7.2% during Q2, now holding 31,418 shares valued at approximately $17.65 million.
• Mastercard reported $4.15 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding estimates and driving a 16.8% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for October 9th.

Alley Investment Management Company LLC reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,418 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,424 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 2.1% of Alley Investment Management Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Alley Investment Management Company LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,683,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida raised its holdings in Mastercard by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,632,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $569.29 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $579.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $560.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.39, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is 20.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $630.89.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.

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