Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Holdings Decreased by Strong Tower Advisory Services

Strong Tower Advisory Services reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 0.8% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,640,219,000 after purchasing an additional 377,302 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,725,627,000 after purchasing an additional 912,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,800,202,000 after purchasing an additional 282,739 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total value of $87,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,887,900. The trade was a 4.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,207 shares of company stock valued at $12,664,529 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:MA opened at $583.27 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $588.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $543.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $539.80. The stock has a market cap of $531.77 billion, a PE ratio of 41.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $608.57.

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.