Freedom Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its Mastercard holdings by 7.6%, now owning 5,357 shares valued at approximately $2.94 million.
• Mastercard reported earnings of $4.15 per share, exceeding estimates, with a 16.8% year-over-year revenue growth of $8.13 billion.
• Hedge funds own 97.28% of Mastercard's stock, with several, including Ethos Financial Group, increasing their positions in the first quarter.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,357 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 440 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 10Elms LLP purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MA. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $617.93.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $5.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $596.04. 820,634 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,786,323. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $538.82 billion, a PE ratio of 40.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $567.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $556.47.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,269 shares of company stock valued at $30,634,699. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.