Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is Birinyi Associates Inc.'s 4th Largest Position

Birinyi Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,982 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,540 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 8.0% of Birinyi Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Birinyi Associates Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $24,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Mastercard by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 70,472 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $37,108,000 after buying an additional 7,452 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,954 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, Trustco Bank Corp N Y purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total transaction of $3,328,555.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.6%

Mastercard stock traded down $3.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $552.52. 2,579,579 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,665,575. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $594.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $567.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $548.59. The company has a market cap of $503.74 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.31 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.90.

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.