Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 353,649 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 4,505 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.8% of Retirement Systems of Alabama's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Mastercard were worth $193,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Whalerock Point Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,729,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,841,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 18.0% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,022,224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $640.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $610.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total value of $549,372.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,630,844.40. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $588.18, for a total transaction of $5,545,361.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,379,709.18. The trade was a 13.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,513 shares of company stock valued at $23,166,463 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA traded down $6.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $532.18. 8,202,700 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,655,722. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $594.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $485.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $559.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $544.51.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.