Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 768,266 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 29,497 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.8% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $379,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $525.68.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MA traded up $6.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $512.37. The stock had a trading volume of 600,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,416,233. The company has a market capitalization of $473.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $493.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $465.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $373.11 and a 12 month high of $518.82.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.18%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Mastercard

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.