Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Somerville Kurt F

Somerville Kurt F lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,948 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 4.1% of Somerville Kurt F’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Somerville Kurt F’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $24,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after purchasing an additional 955,533 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,725,317,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Mastercard by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3%

MA stock traded up $1.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $522.07. 173,085 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,038,394. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $552.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $562.03. The company has a market capitalization of $468.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $739.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $669.27.

About Mastercard

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.