Sigma Planning Corp Lowers Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 53.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,112 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its stake in Mastercard by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Tufton Capital Management grew its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.5 %

MA opened at $457.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $426.84 billion, a PE ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $357.85 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $471.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $434.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,388,649.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $21,388,649.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,630 shares of company stock valued at $68,440,330. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.