Pacifica Partners Inc. Sells 61 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Pacifica Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,999 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $83,644,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 10,691 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,630,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 154,994 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $81,257,000 after purchasing an additional 16,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $583.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $543.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $539.54. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $588.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $531.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $608.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total transaction of $85,417.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,024,394.75. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.