Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Sells 319,480 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. sold 319,480 shares of Mastercard, reducing its holdings by 46% to 374,846 shares, which are valued at approximately $205 million.
• Mastercard's stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”, with 25 analysts giving it a Buy rating and a target price of $634.04.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, payable on November 7th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.5%.

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 374,846 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 319,480 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 2.3% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $205,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $524,914,000 after purchasing an additional 908,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MA. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $634.04.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.4%

Mastercard stock opened at $556.80 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $503.35 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $581.01 and its 200-day moving average is $562.90. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week 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.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

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.

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