Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Sells 581 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,142 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $20,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Whalerock Point Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,729,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Fortis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 36.4% during the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 18.0% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,766,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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 target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,453 shares of company stock worth $20,178,667. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $584.14 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $461.90 and a one year high of $594.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $563.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $554.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $528.07 billion, a PE ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.50%.

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.