Fayez Sarofim & Co Sells 2,484 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Fayez Sarofim & Co lowered its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,202,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,484 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 1.5% of Fayez Sarofim & Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $617,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,625,225. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.68, for a total value of $9,439,383.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,806,033.28. This trade represents a 12.54% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 71,357 shares of company stock valued at $40,637,262. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $598.35 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $545.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $518.79. The stock has a market cap of $524.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.62.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $701.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $664.71.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.