Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 64.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.7% of West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,098,695,000 after buying an additional 931,132 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $551.25 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $559.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $568.29. 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 stock has a market cap of $495.02 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie boosted their target price on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.