Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Elefante Mark B

Key Points

• Elefante Mark B reduced its stake in Mastercard (NYSA:MA) by 7.7%, now holding 11,224 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million.
• Mastercard recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5% to be paid on November 7th.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Mastercard, with Robert W. Baird raising it from $640.00 to $660.00 and maintaining an "outperform" rating.

Elefante Mark B lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,224 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 940 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 4.7% of Elefante Mark B's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Elefante Mark B's holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $524,914,000 after buying an additional 908,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the first 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 buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $634.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $558.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $505.24 billion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $580.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $563.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm posted $3.50 EPS. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. 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.

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