Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 6,511 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 660,761 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 6,511 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Mastercard worth $362,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Mastercard by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 70,472 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $37,108,000 after purchasing an additional 7,452 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $502,000. Finally, Prasad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $301,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Macquarie lowered their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $640.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $611.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total transaction of $87,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,887,900. This trade represents a 4.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,115 shares of company stock worth $18,324,718 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $4.36 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $545.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,003,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,826,244. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $594.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $497.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $561.86 and a 200 day moving average of $545.04.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 196.87% and a net margin of 45.21%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.32%.

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.