Arjuna Capital Sells 213 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Arjuna Capital lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 153,344 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $75,721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 23.8% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Grafton Street Partners Fund LP grew its holdings in Mastercard by 43.9% during the third quarter. Grafton Street Partners Fund LP now owns 11,152 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.1% during the third quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 14,656 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,237,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Simmons Bank grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3.2% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.3 %

MA stock traded down $7.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $522.10. 307,039 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,441,412. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $394.76 and a 52-week high of $534.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $501.55 and a 200-day moving average of $469.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MA. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie upped their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.