Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $4.43 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Aviance Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,866 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,612,087,000 after acquiring an additional 466,514 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,773,153,000 after purchasing an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,256,368,000 after purchasing an additional 759,584 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $543.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market cap of $480.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $503.99 and a 200-day moving average of $516.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.