First Western Trust Bank Reduces Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

First Western Trust Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,166 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $521.89 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $395.55 and a 12-month high of $534.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $504.09 and a 200-day moving average of $471.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

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.