Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated by 11.8%, now owning approximately 0.5% of the company's shares, valued at nearly $3 billion.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and GAMMA Investing LLC, significantly increased their positions in Mastercard, with GAMMA boosting its stake by a remarkable 65,631.5%.
• Mastercard recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, resulting in a 0.5% yield, with a total annualized dividend of $3.04.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,425,750 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 723,493 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.5% of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.60% of Mastercard worth $2,973,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natural Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 13.9% in the first quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 12,422 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% in the first quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 7,683 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,211,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 35.9% in the first quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. now owns 17,665 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,683,000 after acquiring an additional 4,666 shares in the last quarter. Ithaka Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.6% in the first quarter. Ithaka Group LLC now owns 63,115 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $34,595,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $926,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $615.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,636,125.55. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,603 shares of company stock worth $20,265,667 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $13.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $574.42. 2,907,568 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,618,541. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $453.46 and a 1 year high of $594.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $523.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $563.90 and a 200 day moving average of $553.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Mastercard Company 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.