S&CO Inc. Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

S&CO Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 31.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,481 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,082 shares during the period. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 861.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after buying an additional 3,648,748 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $497,311,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $543.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $480.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $503.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $516.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $640.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $653.92.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.