Evercore Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,916 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Evercore Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 436,895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 3.4% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $230,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after buying an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,841,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $607.96.

Mastercard Stock Up 3.7 %

MA stock opened at $527.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $481.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $536.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $529.33.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, 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 $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.