Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Sanders Morris Harris LLC

Key Points

• Sanders Morris Harris LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Mastercard by 76.5%, selling 3,593 shares during the 2nd quarter, leaving them with 1,103 shares valued at $620,000.
• Mastercard recently reported earnings of $4.15 per share for the last quarter, topping analyst expectations, with a revenue of $8.13 billion, attributed to a 16.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, set to be paid on November 7th, with a dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 20.50%.

Sanders Morris Harris LLC lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 76.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,103 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 3,593 shares during the quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 valued at $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 valued at $11,015,557,000 after acquiring an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE MA opened at $566.35 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $580.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $564.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $511.99 billion, a PE ratio of 38.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for 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 company's revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given 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 of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $634.04.

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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