Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 355,564 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 69,628 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $174,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard by 7.3% during the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,089,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $130,902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 396.3% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,343,000 after purchasing an additional 36,848 shares during the period. Finally, Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,328,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.92.

Mastercard Trading Up 3.0%

NYSE MA opened at $551.15 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $486.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $503.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $516.04.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.73 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.