Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $24.05 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,800 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.4% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Mastercard were worth $24,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 9.2% in the second quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,508 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,533,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. First Financial Group Corp grew its stake in Mastercard by 33.5% in the second quarter. First Financial Group Corp now owns 836 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in the second quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,678,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, SGL Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.1% in the second quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,378 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,962,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $579.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $580.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.45. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $523.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $634.04.

About Mastercard

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.

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