Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Ownership Capital B.V.

Ownership Capital B.V. cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 251,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 110,713 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 8.2% of Ownership Capital B.V.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Ownership Capital B.V.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $141,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE MA opened at $565.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $578.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $567.21. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $511.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.15, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $638.96.

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.