Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.

Key Points

• Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. has reduced its stake in Mastercard by 79.1%, selling 49,290 shares and retaining 13,010 shares valued at approximately $7.13 million.
• Mastercard reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.15, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.10, with revenue of $8.13 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 16.8%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, which reflects an annualized rate of $3.04 and a yield of 0.5%.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lessened its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 79.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,010 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 49,290 shares during the quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Mastercard by 38.6% in the 1st 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. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $561,313,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,481 shares of company stock valued at $32,616,595 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of MA stock traded down $11.43 on Friday, hitting $584.21. 2,432,106 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,229,058. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $572.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $557.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $528.13 billion, a PE ratio of 39.39, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. Mastercard's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $626.54.

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.