Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 1,149 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

by · The Markets Daily

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Free Report) by 19.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,832 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.9% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bollard Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 74.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. HSBC initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $424.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $430.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Mastercard from $479.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $461.90.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MA

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,649,875. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,649,875. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.45, for a total value of $47,489,249.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 98,424,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,150,222,216.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 516,164 shares of company stock valued at $199,248,209 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $2.69 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $439.47. The stock had a trading volume of 864,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,277,948. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $340.21 and a 12 month high of $440.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $417.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $404.55. The company has a market cap of $412.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.05, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The credit services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.18. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.85% and a return on equity of 188.83%. The business had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $11.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Profile

(Free Report)

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.

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