Bailard Inc. Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Bailard Inc. lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 186 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 82.4% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,086 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,719 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,398,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 0.3% during the first quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 9,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,079,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Macquarie lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Compass Point set a $620.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.26.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $561.28 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $504.03 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $570.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $569.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

About Mastercard

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.