Pinion Investment Advisors LLC Sells 239 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,271 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 239 shares during the quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,452 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,429,000 after buying an additional 3,306 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 213.2% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 8,456 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,756 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in Mastercard by 6.9% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 41,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,865,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 96.8% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 593,789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $253,144,000 after purchasing an additional 292,064 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $493.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $458.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $460.67 and a 200 day moving average of $460.31. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $359.77 and a 52-week high of $496.85.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $505.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.88.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.07, for a total transaction of $50,068,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,672,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,801,697,969.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 92,672,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,801,697,969.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 827,467 shares of company stock worth $379,595,815. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.