Meeder Asset Management Inc. Buys 37,969 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 58.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,985 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,969 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 2.9% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $51,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. First Pacific Financial grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MA. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $653.92.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $543.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $480.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $503.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $515.80. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Mastercard Profile

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.