Convergence Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Convergence Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% 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. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.96.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE MA opened at $571.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $579.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $566.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

About Mastercard

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.