Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Cambridge Investment Research Advisors reduced its Mastercard stake by 4.5% in the second quarter, selling 5,617 shares and retaining 117,937 shares valued at approximately $60.6 million.
• Mastercard reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $5.04 and revenue of $9.28 billion; revenue increased 14.1% year over year. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and average price target of $661.93, compared with the stock’s cited price of $574.21. Mastercard also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.87, representing a 0.6% yield.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 5,617 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $60,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 861.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,324,743,000 after buying an additional 3,648,748 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0%

MA opened at $574.21 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $503.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.72. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $535.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $517.37.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The business's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Mastercard from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $629.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $661.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following 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 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 sold 62,913 shares of company stock valued at $35,769,036. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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