Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Lowers Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,917 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 1.1% of Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $59,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after buying an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,096,470,000 after buying an additional 742,076 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,974,478,000 after buying an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,608,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,803,956,000 after buying an additional 605,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $501.22 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $462.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $460.52. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $359.77 and a 52 week high of $501.74. The company has a market capitalization of $465.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,423,320. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,423,320. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.07, for a total value of $50,068,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,672,308 shares in the company, valued at $41,801,697,969.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 725,152 shares of company stock worth $334,186,128 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Compass Point assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.08.

Mastercard Company 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.