Nitorum Capital L.P. Sells 17,839 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Nitorum Capital L.P. reduced its holdings in Mastercard by 36.6% during the first quarter, owning 30,892 shares after selling 17,839 shares.
• Mastercard recently reported an EPS of $4.15 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.10, with revenue up 16.8% year-over-year.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Mastercard, with an average target of $626.54 and a rating of "Moderate Buy."

Nitorum Capital L.P. lessened its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 36.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,892 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 17,839 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 2.4% of Nitorum Capital L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Nitorum Capital L.P.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after acquiring an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $626.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,630,844.40. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,481 shares of company stock worth $32,616,595 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE MA traded down $11.43 on Friday, hitting $584.21. 2,432,106 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,229,058. The firm has a market capitalization of $528.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company's 50 day moving average price is $572.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $557.48.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.50 EPS. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

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.