Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Key Points

• Cullen Investment Group LTD. has reduced its stake in Mastercard by 9.3%, selling 700 shares and bringing its total holdings to 6,866 shares valued at approximately $3.86 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of Mastercard's stock, with several funds significantly increasing their holdings in recent quarters.
• Mastercard reported earnings of $4.15 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, marking a 20.50% payout ratio.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,866 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MA. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213,123 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $561,313,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings 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 during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $626.54.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $536,480.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at $13,229,440. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,094 shares of company stock valued at $26,521,861. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE MA opened at $580.75 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company's 50 day moving average price is $574.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $558.35. 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 market capitalization of $525.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.16, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

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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