Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Position Cut by Evercore Wealth Management LLC

Evercore Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 436,895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 3.4% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $230,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $6,022,224,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 79,739.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553,329 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $617,303,000. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 50,438.6% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 981,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $516,807,000 after buying an additional 979,518 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.96.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $527.99 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $536.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $529.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.37 billion, a PE ratio of 38.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

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.