Amundi Trims Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its stake in Mastercard by 0.7%, bringing its total holdings to approximately 4.87 million shares, representing 0.9% of its portfolio.
• Mastercard's stock has decreased by 0.5% and currently trades at $592.08, with a market capitalization of $535.25 billion.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $4.15, exceeding estimates, along with a revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 16.8% year-over-year increase.

Amundi decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,865,255 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 34,183 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.9% of Amundi's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Amundi owned approximately 0.53% of Mastercard worth $2,585,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the first 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 bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,313,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $626.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,481 shares of company stock worth $32,616,595 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.9%

MA traded down $11.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $584.21. 2,432,106 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,252,842. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $528.13 billion, a PE ratio of 39.39, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $572.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $557.52. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS 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 business 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 firm earned $3.50 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.