Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 167,478 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 952 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $18,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 112,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,566,000 after buying an additional 15,988 shares during the period. Atlanta Capital Management Co. L L C boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Atlanta Capital Management Co. L L C now owns 904,917 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $93,433,000 after buying an additional 26,865 shares during the period. A.R.T. Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 755.8% in the fourth quarter. A.R.T. Advisors LLC now owns 36,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,799,000 after buying an additional 32,500 shares during the period. Girard Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1,165.6% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 45,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,657,000 after buying an additional 41,542 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.74% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Incorporated (MA) opened at 128.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $137.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $92.03 and a 52-week high of $128.27.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The credit services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 72.95% and a net margin of 37.79%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post $4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 5th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.98%.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Jefferies Group LLC set a $123.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 25th. Piper Jaffray Companies restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, April 14th. Vetr cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $116.99 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 17th. Zacks Investment Research cut Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays PLC raised their target price on Mastercard from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.40.

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 87,618 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.60, for a total transaction of $11,092,438.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 112,736,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,272,463,814.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ajay Banga sold 161,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $18,967,484.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 333,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,108,958.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 333,319 shares of company stock worth $39,751,311 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

MasterCard Incorporated is a technology company that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses across the world, enabling them to use electronic forms of payment. The Company operates through Payment Solutions segment. The Company allows user to make payments by creating a range of payment solutions and services using its brands, which include MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus.