Trexquant Investment LP Reduces Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,095 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 6,816 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in Mastercard were worth $23,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $40,640,219,000 after acquiring an additional 377,302 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,800,202,000 after purchasing an additional 282,739 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. KeyCorp upped their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 3.1 %

MA stock traded down $17.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $530.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,442,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,553,024. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $582.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business's 50 day moving average price is $551.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $528.12. The company has a market cap of $483.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.