Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 3,698 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Procyon Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,285 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,698 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $177,000. Courier Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 746 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $247,000. Finally, San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,067 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Mastercard from $476.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $479.62.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $479.42. 213,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,409,067. The business has a 50 day moving average of $463.16 and a 200 day moving average of $426.09. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $355.82 and a 1-year high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $447.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total transaction of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $20,003,217.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total transaction of $43,072.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total transaction of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,003,217.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,628 shares of company stock worth $23,309,067. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.