California State Teachers Retirement System Has $681.88 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,294,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 47,090 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.8% of California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $681,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 483.3% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Macquarie boosted their price target on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.96.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $533.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market cap of $486.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $534.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $530.33.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard 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.