Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Key Points

• Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Mastercard by 1.9%, selling 1,023 shares, and now holds 51,616 shares valued at approximately $29 million, making it the 21st largest position in their portfolio.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their positions in Mastercard, with notable increases of 19.5% and 36.4% by Ethos Financial Group and Canandaigua National Trust Co, respectively.
• Wall Street analysts remain bullish on Mastercard, with 24 analysts giving it a "Buy" rating and a consensus price target of $630.89, highlighting strong anticipated growth for the company.

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,616 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,023 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 1.3% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $29,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 607,702 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $333,095,000 after purchasing an additional 3,001 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,636,125.55. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,094 shares of company stock worth $26,521,861. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded down $12.24 on Thursday, hitting $586.39. 3,294,088 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,233,542. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $576.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $558.89. The stock has a market cap of $530.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $630.89.

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.