Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Brookwood Investment Group LLC

Brookwood Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 28.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,723 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 685 shares during the period. Brookwood Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE MA opened at $571.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $579.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $566.75. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $516.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect 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, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is 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.