Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 1,832 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Calamos Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,852 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,832 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.6% of Calamos Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $120,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,308,223,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 111,819.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,983,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,080,549,000 after purchasing an additional 5,977,885 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 43,445.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,252,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,929,940 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,509,328,000 after purchasing an additional 2,385,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 145.7% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,960,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,164,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,483 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,740,407.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,728 shares of company stock valued at $19,479,753 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.2 %

MA stock traded down $5.46 on Thursday, reaching $454.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,995,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,406,486. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $471.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $433.21. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $357.85 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The firm has a market cap of $424.19 billion, a PE ratio of 38.89, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

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.