King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 1,218 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 167,160 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,218 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $93,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.9% in the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the second quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the second quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

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

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $551.98 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $572.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $569.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $499.00 billion, a PE ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MA. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.26.

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.