State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Sells 6,460 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 789,153 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,460 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.8% of State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $443,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $545.56 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $560.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.64. The stock has a market cap of $489.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $713.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $652.50.

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.