Janus Henderson Group PLC Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,568,710 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 692,259 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.1% of Janus Henderson Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.52% of Mastercard worth $2,272,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in Mastercard by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Mastercard from $561.00 to $554.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $640.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.65.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $563.65 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $511.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $514.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $498.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.73.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.73 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.14%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,625,225. This trade represents a 22.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.