Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 12,867 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 510,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,867 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 0.7% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $262,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,444,231,000 after buying an additional 72,461,743 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in Mastercard by 861.6% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,648,748 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider J. Mehra Sachin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.87, for a total value of $1,715,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,398,632.92. This represents a 6.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at $17,781,695.49. This represents a 12.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,913 shares of company stock worth $35,769,036. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2%

Mastercard stock opened at $561.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $492.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $523.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $515.45. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Mastercard from $665.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $661.93.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.