Copperleaf Capital LLC Cuts Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Copperleaf Capital LLC cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,739 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 1.2% of Copperleaf Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Copperleaf Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 70,472 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,108,000 after purchasing an additional 7,452 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,000. Trustco Bank Corp N Y purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total value of $549,372.74. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,630,844.40. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,481 shares of company stock worth $32,616,595. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:MA opened at $592.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $570.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $557.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $535.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.50%.

About Mastercard

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.