National Pension Service Sells 57,122 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

National Pension Service decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,519,790 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 57,122 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.7% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. National Pension Service owned 0.17% of Mastercard worth $854,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $524,914,000 after buying an additional 908,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.26.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $557.93 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $570.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $569.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $504.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.62, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during 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%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.