Bessemer Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. cut its Mastercard stake by 91.5% in the first quarter, selling 486,812 shares and leaving it with 45,203 shares worth about $22.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with Mastercard carrying a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $653.92; several firms recently reiterated or raised bullish ratings.
• Mastercard reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, payable on August 7.

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 91.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,203 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 486,812 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $22,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $45,612,087,000 after buying an additional 466,514 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after buying an additional 72,461,743 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,773,153,000 after acquiring an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $10,256,368,000 after acquiring an additional 759,584 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Clear Str upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $597.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $653.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,625,225. The trade was a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months, insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $543.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $464.52 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $480.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $503.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $516.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.