Legal & General Group Plc Sells 1,769,879 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,551,260 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,769,879 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.8% of Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,923,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $6,022,224,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553,329 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,725,627,000 after buying an additional 912,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,139,713,000 after buying an additional 817,836 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MA shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % 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. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $489.94 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $550.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $528.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mastercard

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.