Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 3,466 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,039 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,466 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 1.4% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $26,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 43,445.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,252,525,000 after buying an additional 2,929,940 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,096,470,000 after buying an additional 742,076 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,974,478,000 after buying an additional 676,452 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,608,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,803,956,000 after acquiring an additional 605,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.78, for a total transaction of $50,443,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,996,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,887,951,416.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.78, for a total value of $50,443,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,996,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,887,951,416.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,163,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,428,540,870 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE MA traded down $9.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $443.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,313,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,447,406. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $452.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $452.77. The company has a market capitalization of $411.94 billion, a PE ratio of 35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $359.77 and a 52 week high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

Mastercard Company 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.