Abundance Wealth Counselors Trims Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Abundance Wealth Counselors reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 442 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Mastercard by 87.4% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its stake in Mastercard by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 49,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $21,129,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,124 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total transaction of $50,743,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 97,432,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,541,179,602.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.28, for a total value of $4,038,043.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,940 shares in the company, valued at $26,362,683.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total value of $50,743,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 97,432,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,541,179,602.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,163,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,428,540,870 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $448.18 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $450.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $453.63. The firm has a market cap of $416.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.63, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

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.