Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $196.44 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 349,581 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,068 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.7% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $196,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its stake in Mastercard by 11.2% in the first quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Yukon Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,237,000. Finally, Alterna Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 8.8% in the first quarter. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of MA stock opened at $553.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $500.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $578.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $567.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

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.