Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated by 0.9%, owning 80,999 shares valued at approximately $44.4 million after selling 708 shares in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Wellington Management Group LLP, have increased their holdings in Mastercard, with Wellington boosting its stake by 38.6% during the same period.
• Mastercard’s earnings per share for the last quarter was reported at $4.15, surpassing estimates, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76, reflecting a yield of 0.5%.

Advisors Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,999 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 708 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $44,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $42,503,787,000 after acquiring an additional 365,537 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,015,557,000 after acquiring an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,508,636,000 after buying an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $626.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total transaction of $3,328,555.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,053 shares of company stock worth $27,071,234 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.7%

Mastercard stock opened at $580.07 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $573.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $558.03. The company has a market capitalization of $524.39 billion, a PE ratio of 39.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

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.

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