Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Martin Investment Management LLC

Martin Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,001 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 460 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 4.9% of Martin Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $19,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $649.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $551.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $572.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $569.24. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $499.00 billion, a PE ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

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.