Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Modera Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Modera Wealth Management cut its Mastercard stake by 16.5% in the first quarter, selling 2,157 shares and leaving it with 10,928 shares valued at about $5.46 million.
• Mastercard reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.60 versus estimates of $4.41 and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 15.8% from a year earlier.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and average price target of $653.92.

Modera Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,928 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,157 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 892 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Advisortrust Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 5.4% during the first quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 448 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 6.6% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 244,324 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $122,079,000 after acquiring an additional 15,025 shares during the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% during the first quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 12,459 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,225,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 100.6% in the 1st quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $543.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $480.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $503.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $516.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.73 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Clear Str raised shares of Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $653.92.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

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