Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 349,581 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,068 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 0.7% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $196,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $553.89 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $578.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $567.52. The stock has a market cap of $500.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Truist Financial set a $638.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $638.96.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard 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.