Hill Island Financial LLC Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Hill Island Financial LLC bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. 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 raised its holdings 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 worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Fortis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 9.4% during the first quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida grew its holdings in Mastercard by 36.4% in the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the second 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,391 shares of company stock worth $20,836,514. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6%

MA opened at $581.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $525.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $580.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $561.85. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

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.