Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 826 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $4,238,764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $630.89.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $581.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $580.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $561.85. The company has a market capitalization of $525.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,391 shares of company stock worth $20,836,514 over the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.