Sapient Capital LLC Sells 1,079 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,280 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,079 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 1.0% of Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $52,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 2,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 676 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Macquarie reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $640.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 target price for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $610.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total transaction of $8,220,537.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,258 shares of company stock valued at $20,885,067 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MA opened at $590.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $538.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.05. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $594.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $551.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $543.22.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

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.