Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 12,867 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 510,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,867 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises 0.7% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.06% of Mastercard worth $262,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 820.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $561.79 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $464.52 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $492.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $523.68 and a 200-day moving average of $515.45.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.14%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,913 shares of company stock valued at $35,769,036. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $661.93.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.