Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 133,137 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,562 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $73,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $34,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 73 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Financial Group bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $660.63 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $597.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $541.07. The company has a market capitalization 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 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th were given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $701.00 target price (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $674.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Argus upped their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $713.21.

Latest Mastercard News

These are some of the MA news items that stood out recently:

• 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: Other partnerships broaden Mastercard’s business-banking reach, including a BMO commercial card in Canada and Citizens’ treasury-management collaboration using Mastercard technology. Read about Mastercard’s business-banking partnerships
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach highlighted cybersecurity threats to financial infrastructure. The comments underscore an ongoing operational risk but did not describe a specific incident or financial impact. Watch the CEO’s cybersecurity comments

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total transaction of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.43, for a total transaction of $2,774,012.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $22,966,872.50. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.