WBI Investments LLC Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• WBI Investments LLC has drastically reduced its stake in Mastercard by 71.8%, owning only 485 shares following the sale of 1,234 shares in Q1.
• GAMMA Investing LLC dramatically increased its holdings in Mastercard by 65,631.5%, now owning over 8.2 million shares worth approximately $4.5 billion.
• Mastercard's recent quarterly earnings report showed $4.15 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.05, and a year-over-year revenue growth of 16.8%.

WBI Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 71.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 485 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,234 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 worth $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $561,313,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 worth $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,094 shares of company stock worth $26,521,861. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of MA opened at $589.12 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $574.32 and a 200 day moving average of $558.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $532.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.72, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

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 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 company had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.

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