Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. Lowers Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,195 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida lifted its stake in Mastercard by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,632,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $574.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.73, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $579.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.01. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

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. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $630.89.

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.