Sunbelt Securities Inc. Sells 349 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 349 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Physicians Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the first quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,975 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,532,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $476,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 13.4% during the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 73,595 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,745,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $147,000. 74.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MA. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $463.00 to $488.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $440.00 to $443.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. 888 restated a “reiterates” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $437.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $442.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $440.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.39, for a total value of $49,243,124.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,430,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,916,200,851.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.39, for a total value of $49,243,124.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,430,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,916,200,851.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 6,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,533,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,596,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 407,267 shares of company stock worth $161,485,243. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $416.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The company has a market capitalization of $392.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $276.87 and a 12-month high of $417.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $400.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $380.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.18 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 43.37% and a return on equity of 178.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 6th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.37%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.