Walter Public Investments Inc. Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Walter Public Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,804 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 2.6% of Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $14,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,584,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,399,279,000 after purchasing an additional 330,872 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Mastercard by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,974,478,000 after purchasing an additional 676,452 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Mastercard by 0.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,651,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,574,347,000 after purchasing an additional 43,881 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 0.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,250,760 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,875,266,000 after purchasing an additional 38,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Mastercard by 7.1% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,213,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,029,302,000 after purchasing an additional 279,178 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.88.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $493.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $458.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $359.77 and a 52-week high of $496.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $460.67 and a 200 day moving average of $460.18.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,423,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 720,467 shares of company stock worth $331,875,955 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.