Janus Henderson Group PLC Decreases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Janus Henderson Group PLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,568,710 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 692,259 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.1% of Janus Henderson Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,272,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,597 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price target on Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,702,934.17. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $563.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $498.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $511.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $514.20. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.