Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stake Reduced by Norway Savings Bank

Norway Savings Bank reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fragasso Group Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 1,115 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 808 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Bell Bank boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,908 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. 74.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.38, for a total transaction of $4,274,290.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,166,426.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.38, for a total transaction of $4,274,290.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,166,426.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 6,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,533,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,596,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 407,267 shares of company stock worth $161,485,243. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Mastercard from $442.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Mastercard from $435.00 to $450.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Mastercard from $437.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $442.83.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2 %

MA stock traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $414.31. The stock had a trading volume of 4,755,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,688,428. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $276.87 and a 1-year high of $418.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $401.97 and a 200 day moving average of $381.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $390.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.05. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.10% and a net margin of 43.37%. The company had revenue of $6.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.37%.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.