First Bancorp Inc ME Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

First Bancorp Inc ME lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 674 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 35 shares during the quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 43,445.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,252,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,929,940 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Mastercard by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,974,478,000 after acquiring an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,608,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,803,956,000 after acquiring an additional 605,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded down $2.76 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $452.89. 1,413,686 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,431,799. The stock has a market cap of $421.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.95, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $452.17 and a 200 day moving average of $452.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $359.77 and a 52 week high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 131,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.46, for a total value of $60,189,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,426,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,466,191,473.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.28, for a total transaction of $4,038,043.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,362,683.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 131,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.46, for a total value of $60,189,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,426,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,466,191,473.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,025,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,366,000,650. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.91.

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.