Conning Inc. Has $7.06 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Conning Inc. trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,872 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,884 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,640,219,000 after buying an additional 377,302 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,725,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,800,202,000 after acquiring an additional 282,739 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $640.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $611.50.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $536,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,229,440. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,441 shares of company stock valued at $20,173,035. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:MA opened at $566.53 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $594.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $566.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $546.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $516.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 196.87% and a net margin of 45.21%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.32%.

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.