Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Portside Wealth Group LLC

Portside Wealth Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,503 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 0.9% of Portside Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,181,341,000 after acquiring an additional 955,533 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,885,944,000 after purchasing an additional 629,941 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,303,015,000 after purchasing an additional 235,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,658,547 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,218,638,000 after purchasing an additional 339,137 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MA opened at $501.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $515.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $543.70. The stock has a market cap of $446.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $664.40.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.