Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Cut by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 405,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,685 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.7% of Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $227,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $524,914,000 after acquiring an additional 908,116 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $573.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $518.53 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $579.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 (DPR) is currently 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.