Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,032,597 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 85,782 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 0.8% of Prudential Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.11% of Mastercard worth $580,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,977 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after buying an additional 931,132 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $540.42 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $563.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $569.15. The company has a market cap of $485.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $652.50.

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.