Parallel Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Parallel Advisors LLC decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,309 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,002 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $20,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $543.55 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $480.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $503.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $515.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Piper Sandler began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 target price for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $640.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.92.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.