Eastern Bank Lowers Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Eastern Bank trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,375 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,725,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 282,739 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,817,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207,787 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 7,610,333 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,007,373,000 after acquiring an additional 71,874 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $563.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $564.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $550.91. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $439.59 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market cap of $513.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp upped 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $612.90.

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.