Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC Sells 227 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,917 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whalerock Point Partners LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,729,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,841,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $6,022,224,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $550.02 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $594.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $561.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $545.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The company has a market cap of $501.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.57, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $640.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Macquarie lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $535.80, for a total transaction of $508,474.20. Following the completion of the sale, 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 this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $34,196,757.55. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.