Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stake Lessened by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 68.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,238 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,658 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in Mastercard were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Swedbank AB grew its position in Mastercard by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $925,662,000 after buying an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.5% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,978 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $1,540,000. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 5.7% during the third quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 858 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MA traded down $10.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $547.33. The stock had a trading volume of 387,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,703,418. The firm has a market cap of $499.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $550.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $526.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.