Concord Wealth Partners Decreases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Concord Wealth Partners lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,280 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 552 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,640,219,000 after buying an additional 377,302 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,725,627,000 after purchasing an additional 912,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $9,800,202,000 after purchasing an additional 282,739 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in 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 worth $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE MA opened at $555.16 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $594.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $506.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $567.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $548.05.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $633.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday. Macquarie decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $611.50.

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.