Sapient Capital LLC Sells 2,399 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,399 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.8% of Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $52,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after purchasing an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Mastercard by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after buying an additional 931,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $579.61 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $555.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.67. The firm has a market cap of $520.49 billion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.Mastercard’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Compass Point set a $620.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.48.

Mastercard Profile

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.