Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,567,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 149,929 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 0.7% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.81% of Mastercard worth $3,338,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,565,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Camden National Bank bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $2,406,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas cut Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.70.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE MA opened at $491.12 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $359.77 and a 12 month high of $501.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $453.72 billion, a PE ratio of 39.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $469.79 and its 200 day moving average is $461.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for 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%. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company 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.