Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 27.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,882 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,075 shares during the quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.6% during the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.0% in the first quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 986 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MA. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $626.54.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $584.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $528.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.99. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $573.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $557.87.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,481 shares of company stock worth $32,616,595. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.