Bessemer Securities LLC Trims Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Bessemer Securities LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Mastercard by 98,203.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 825,436,694 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $324,644,252,000 after purchasing an additional 824,597,013 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 3.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,759,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,632,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,477 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,368,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,936,110,000 after buying an additional 62,380 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,509,328,000 after buying an additional 2,385,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,308,223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Timothy H. Murphy sold 7,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.28, for a total value of $2,947,420.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,007 shares in the company, valued at $15,496,700.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Hai Ling sold 3,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.00, for a total transaction of $1,379,460.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,577 shares in the company, valued at $7,294,455. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy H. Murphy sold 7,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.28, for a total transaction of $2,947,420.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,496,700.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 533,424 shares of company stock worth $206,051,295 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $404.40 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $336.43 and a 12-month high of $418.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market cap of $379.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $394.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $391.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The credit services provider reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $6.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.85% and a return on equity of 188.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 9th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 15th. HSBC began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, October 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $424.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $450.09.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.