Baird Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group reduced its Mastercard position by 0.4% in the second quarter, selling 2,108 shares and retaining 528,506 shares valued at approximately $271.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.28% of the company.
• Mastercard insiders sold 74,623 shares worth about $42.5 million over the past 90 days, while insider ownership stands at just 0.09%. The reported sales were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $666.64. Mastercard also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $5.04 in EPS and $9.28 billion in revenue, up 14.1% year over year.

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 528,506 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,108 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Mastercard worth $271,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Mastercard by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Betterment LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 35.8% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $380,548,000 after acquiring an additional 178,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $431,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,625,225. This trade represents a 22.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 40,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 74,623 shares of company stock valued at $42,544,606. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $666.64.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $570.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The company has a market capitalization of $499.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $561.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $522.20.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated NYSE: MA is a global technology company that operates a payments network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payment transactions, including credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, by providing the infrastructure used to authorize, clear and settle transactions.

Mastercard's products and services include its Mastercard-branded payment cards, digital payment tools, contactless payment technology and payment solutions for businesses and governments.

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