Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 59.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 289 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 421 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. Elk River Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,877,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Well Done LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $220,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 13,329 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,685,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $177,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $479.62.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:MA traded up $2.77 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $480.72. 920,858 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,421,281. The firm has a market cap of $448.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $355.82 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $463.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.32%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $11.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,628 shares of company stock worth $23,309,067 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.