Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has reduced its stake in Mastercard by 14.4%, holding 37,727 shares worth approximately $20.68 million as per the latest SEC filing.
• Mastercard's Q2 earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $4.15 EPS and $8.13 billion in revenue, marking a 16.8% year-over-year increase.
• Insiders have recently sold a total of 56,269 shares of Mastercard stock valued at approximately $30.63 million over the last quarter.

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,727 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 6,368 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in Mastercard were worth $20,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 10Elms LLP bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $617.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total transaction of $3,328,555.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,636,125.55. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $536,480.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,229,440. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,269 shares of company stock worth $30,634,699. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA traded down $5.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $590.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,003,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,783,313. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $533.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.79, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.99. The business's fifty day moving average is $569.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $556.79.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid 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 was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

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.