Arizona State Retirement System Sells 4,880 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,880 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.6% of Arizona State Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $116,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.5%

MA traded down $8.86 on Tuesday, hitting $570.35. The company had a trading volume of 2,705,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,620,135. The stock has a market capitalization of $499.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $559.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $521.90. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $601.62.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $666.64.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,403,600. This represents a 8.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 74,623 shares of company stock valued at $42,544,606 over the last three months. Company 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.