Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 32,409 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Mastercard by 2.0%, holding 1,557,155 shares valued at approximately $853.5 million after selling 32,409 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider trading activity included Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick and Julius Genachowski selling shares, with insiders collectively selling 38,603 shares valued at $20.27 million over the last 90 days.
• Several analysts have updated their price targets on Mastercard, with ranges from $612.00 to $670.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $615.33.

Raymond James Financial Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,557,155 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 32,409 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.17% of Mastercard worth $853,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in Mastercard by 641.9% during the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,027 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.1% during the first quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 6,606 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 5.6% during the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 90,844 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $49,829,000 after purchasing an additional 4,810 shares during the period. Martin Currie Ltd. boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.5% during the first quarter. Martin Currie Ltd. now owns 161,364 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $88,447,000 after purchasing an additional 3,885 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 12.4% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $615.33.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $13.20 on Friday, hitting $574.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,907,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,618,541. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $563.90 and a 200 day moving average of $553.43. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $453.46 and a twelve month high of $594.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $523.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.73, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $14,630,844.40. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,196,757.55. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,603 shares of company stock worth $20,265,667. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Mastercard

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.