Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 67 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC decreased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 203,432 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $111,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Whalerock Point Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,729,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 36.4% during the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 18.0% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,766,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Macquarie lowered their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,453 shares of company stock worth $20,178,667. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $578.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $456.07 and a fifty-two week high of $594.71. The firm has a market cap of $522.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $563.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $554.15.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

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.