Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• Magellan Asset Management trimmed its Mastercard stake by 7.4% in the first quarter, though it still held 584,990 shares worth about $292.3 million and made Mastercard its fifth-largest holding.
• Mastercard reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $4.60 versus $4.41 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 15.8% year over year. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 19.62.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, payable August 7, implying an annualized payout of $3.48 and a yield of about 0.6%.

Magellan Asset Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 584,990 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 46,408 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 3.8% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.07% of Mastercard worth $292,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.8%

Mastercard stock opened at $537.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $474.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $505.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $515.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.73 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Al Etihad Payments announced the first co-badged Jaywan-Mastercard credit card, a new partnership that could expand Mastercard’s footprint in the UAE and support payment-network volume growth. Al Etihad Payments, Mastercard launch world's first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard was highlighted as a strong momentum stock, reinforcing the view that the company still has favorable fundamental and trading characteristics despite recent weakness. Here's Why MasterCard (MA) is a Strong Momentum Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Lithic introduced a way to make small-business loan proceeds spend-ready, a payments-adjacent product that could deepen Mastercard’s role in SMB finance workflows. Lithic and Mastercard Make SMB Loans Ready to Spend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $640.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $653.92.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.