Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 9,365 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Western Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 84.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,699 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,365 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 332,955 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $175,324,000 after purchasing an additional 3,706 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 294,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $155,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $569.74 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $539.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $537.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $588.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total value of $85,417.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,555 shares in the company, valued at $2,024,394.75. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,207 shares of company stock valued at $12,664,529 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MA. DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.25.

Mastercard 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.