American Trust Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• American Trust reduced its holdings in Mastercard by 19.7%, bringing its stake to 9,864 shares valued at approximately $5.41 million.
• Mastercard reported strong earnings with an EPS of $4.15 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 16.8%.
• The company recently declared a dividend of $0.76 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 20.50%.

American Trust cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 19.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,864 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,421 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.3% of American Trust's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. American Trust's holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 10Elms LLP acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $536,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,229,440. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MA. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $626.54.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA traded down $7.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $580.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,445,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,757,904. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $574.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $558.24. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $525.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.50 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders 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 (DPR) is presently 20.50%.

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.