5,370 Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,304 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,370 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $55,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,984,867,000 after acquiring an additional 486,283 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,559,779,000 after purchasing an additional 480,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,111,216,000 after purchasing an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 17.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,831,763,000 after purchasing an additional 554,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,862,527,000 after purchasing an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total value of $2,767,197.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $22,915,750. This trade represents a 10.77% 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 quarter, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Recent Mastercard Headlines

Here are a few of the latest headlines about MA:

• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target to $764 from $730 and reiterated an “outperform” rating, signaling confidence in Mastercard’s prospects. Read more about Bernstein’s price target
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup increased its target to $800 from $675 and maintained a “buy” rating, adding to the recent bullish analyst view. Read more about Citigroup’s price target
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is partnering with Sage and Adyen on small-business financial services. Mastercard will provide the card network for Sage business debit cards, while Adyen supplies banking infrastructure for the initial French rollout. Read about the Sage, Adyen and Mastercard partnership

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $660.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $575.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $597.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $541.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $681.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $701.00 target price (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 price target (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $713.21.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods. The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.