Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 3,698 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Procyon Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,285 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,698 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.1% in the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 8.4% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 348 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 5,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tufton Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 578 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total value of $3,829,314.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $20,003,217.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,628 shares of company stock valued at $23,309,067 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $425.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $479.62.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $479.42. 213,086 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,409,067. The stock has a market cap of $447.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $355.82 and a 12 month high of $490.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $463.16 and its 200-day moving average is $426.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

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.