Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Per Stirling Capital Management LLC drastically reduced its stake in Mastercard by 67.2%, selling 1,000 shares and now holding only 489 shares valued at approximately $268,000.
• Mastercard reported a strong earnings performance, with earnings per share of $4.15, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieving a revenue growth of 16.8% year-over-year.
• The company's most recent quarterly dividend was $0.76 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 20.50%.

Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 67.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 489 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Findlay Park Partners LLP grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the first quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 533,590 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $292,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,100 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in Mastercard by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 130,460 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $71,508,000 after acquiring an additional 9,275 shares during the last quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Mastercard by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV now owns 656 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,231,135 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $674,810,000 after purchasing an additional 11,730 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $592.88 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $565.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $556.05. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $535.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. Mastercard's revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,269 shares of company stock worth $30,634,699 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $617.93.

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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