Baird Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Mastercard by 0.5%, owning 539,098 shares worth approximately $295.49 million as of the latest reporting period.
• Mastercard's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with $4.15 EPS reported, surpassing analyst estimates, indicating a year-over-year revenue increase of 16.8%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, reflecting a 0.5% yield and a payout ratio of 20.50%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 539,098 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,749 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.06% of Mastercard worth $295,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 10Elms LLP bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total transaction of $8,220,537.55. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,269 shares of company stock valued at $30,634,699 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $623.03.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Mastercard stock traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $592.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,968,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,786,360. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $535.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.99. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $570.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $557.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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 was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend 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%.

Mastercard 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.