Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Venture Visionary Partners LLC

Venture Visionary Partners LLC cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 49.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 29,744 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 10Elms LLP purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $536,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at $13,229,440. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,453 shares of company stock valued at $20,178,667. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of MA stock opened at $584.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $528.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $563.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $554.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $461.90 and a fifty-two week high of $594.71.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MA. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $617.93.

About Mastercard

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.