Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,390 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 30.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,187 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,390 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 48.6% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $17,854,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $520.40 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $394.76 and a one year high of $534.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $502.32 and a 200 day moving average of $470.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.36, a PEG ratio of 2.28 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price target (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Compass Point began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $547.80.

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.