Fayez Sarofim & Co Sells 2,484 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co. reduced its Mastercard stake by 2,484 shares, or 0.2%, ending the second quarter with 1.20 million shares worth approximately $617.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.28% of Mastercard.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with five Strong Buy and 25 Buy ratings versus one Sell rating. Mastercard has a consensus price target of $664.71, while several firms recently raised their targets to between $642 and $681.
• Mastercard reported quarterly EPS of $5.04, beating estimates of $4.77, while revenue rose 14.1% year over year to $9.28 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, representing a 0.6% annualized yield.

Fayez Sarofim & Co lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,202,173 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,484 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.5% of Fayez Sarofim & Co's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned about 0.14% of Mastercard worth $617,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard by 7.3% in the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $70,089,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan lifted its stake in Mastercard by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 65,414 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $37,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $1,328,000. Charles Lim Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $15,699,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 28,205 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $14,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MA. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $629.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $664.71.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MA opened at $598.35 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.62. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $545.04 and a 200-day moving average of $518.79. The firm has a market cap of $524.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The company 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%.Mastercard's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 71,357 shares of company stock valued at $40,637,262. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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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