Sanders Capital LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Sanders Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,437,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 49,840 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.1% of Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $808,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MA. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $545.31 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $568.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $569.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $489.68 billion, a PE ratio of 36.77, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Mastercard Company 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.