Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Metropolis Capital Ltd

Key Points

• Metropolis Capital Ltd reduced its stake in Mastercard by 9.1%, selling 34,229 shares, thus holding 343,006 shares worth approximately $192.7 million.
• Mastercard reported earnings per share of $4.15 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.05, with revenues reaching $8.13 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, payable on November 7th, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.5%.

Metropolis Capital Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 343,006 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 34,229 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 6.1% of Metropolis Capital Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Metropolis Capital Ltd's holdings in Mastercard were worth $192,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Mastercard by 4.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Mastercard by 38.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $630.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,391 shares of company stock worth $20,836,514. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:MA opened at $574.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $519.26 billion, a PE ratio of 38.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.97. 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 current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock's 50-day moving average is $579.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $561.01.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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