Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Trims Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,103,371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,823 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 0.7% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.23% of Mastercard worth $1,012,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total transaction of $62,540,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,152,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,762,504,462.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,163,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,428,540,870 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.91.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded up $3.43 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $448.08. 1,905,549 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,457,520. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $416.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $451.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.44.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

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.