Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 742,349 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 34,068 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 1.1% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.08% of Mastercard worth $417,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Slagle Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $204,000. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.1% during the second quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 6,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,438,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 5,749.0% during the second quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 171,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $96,595,000 after buying an additional 168,963 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 31,143 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,500,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $545.31 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $489.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $568.49 and a 200 day moving average of $570.09.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Macquarie boosted their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $652.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.