Swedbank AB Sells 491,369 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Swedbank AB decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 21.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,759,564 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 491,369 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.9% of Swedbank AB’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $879,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA traded up $3.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $536.16. 1,375,497 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,857,211. The stock has a market capitalization of $473.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $497.92 and a 200 day moving average of $518.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $654.31.

Mastercard 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.