Mackenzie Financial Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated by 15.4%, selling 161,609 shares and holding 888,682 shares valued at approximately $487.1 million at the end of the quarter.
• Insider activity indicates that company executives are also selling shares, with Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick and Julius Genachowski each decreasing their positions by around 3.6% and 3.55% respectively in recent transactions.
• Mastercard's stock recently opened at $568.18, with a strong quarterly performance reporting a 14.2% year-over-year revenue increase and an EPS of $3.73, beating estimates.

Mackenzie Financial Corp trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 15.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 888,682 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 161,609 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.10% of Mastercard worth $487,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% in the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% in the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.8% in the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.6% in the first quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.0% in the first quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 986 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total value of $549,372.74. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,630,844.40. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $568.18 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $432.11 and a twelve month high of $594.71. The stock has a market cap of $518.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $565.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $550.38.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is 21.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.90.

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.

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