Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 654 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated by 36% during the second quarter, now owning a total of 1,163 shares valued at $654,000.
• Institutional investors own 97.28% of Mastercard's stock, with multiple firms, including Vanguard and Wellington Management, increasing their stakes recently.
• Mastercard announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing a 0.5% yield, with the dividend set to be paid on November 7th.

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 36.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,163 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 654 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in 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 last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $4,238,764,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $630.89.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of MA opened at $577.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $522.30 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $580.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $561.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $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 have sold a total of 35,391 shares of company stock worth $20,836,514 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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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