New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 38,437 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,084,616 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 38,437 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 0.9% of New York State Common Retirement Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.12% of Mastercard worth $594,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. BankPlus Trust Department raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.1% during the first quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 1,097 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 240,557 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $131,854,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 13.3% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 20,877 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,443,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coyle Financial Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at about $264,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Macquarie dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $611.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $13.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $550.04. The company had a trading volume of 3,221,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,666,716. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The company has a market capitalization of $501.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $568.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $547.76. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 21.32%.

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.