Colonial Trust Advisors Has $355,000 Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Colonial Trust Advisors cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 674 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 164 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $499.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $455.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $543.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $528.13. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.96.

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.