Balefire LLC Sells 1,813 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Balefire LLC lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 60.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,194 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,813 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $6,022,224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,508,636,000 after buying an additional 8,213,123 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 79,739.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after buying an additional 1,553,329 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,817,684,000 after buying an additional 1,207,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $535.80, for a total transaction of $508,474.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,021 shares in the company, valued at $7,512,451.80. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total value of $87,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,887,900. The trade was a 4.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,115 shares of company stock valued at $18,324,718 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $633.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $610.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $550.02 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $561.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $545.04. The firm has a market cap of $501.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 196.87% and a net margin of 45.21%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.31 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.32%.

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.