Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 247,060 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 2.4% of HM Payson & Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $135,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Mastercard by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 70,472 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,108,000 after buying an additional 7,452 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,954 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,555,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,980 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,308,000 after buying an additional 4,166 shares during the period. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 5,840 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,075,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 310 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.00, for a total transaction of $173,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,669,203. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total transaction of $87,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,887,900. This represents a 4.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,441 shares of company stock valued at $20,173,035 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $5.01 on Friday, hitting $566.53. 1,528,739 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,670,606. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $594.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $566.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $546.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. 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, 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $611.50.

Mastercard 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.