WBI Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

WBI Investments LLC lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 71.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 485 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,234 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,508,636,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $561,313,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,094 shares of company stock worth $26,521,861. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.7%

MA stock opened at $589.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $574.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $558.24. The stock has a market cap of $532.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.72, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.54.

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.