Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Purchased by Walter Public Investments Inc.

Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,894 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,979 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 2.5% of Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,984,867,000 after acquiring an additional 486,283 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,559,779,000 after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after buying an additional 42,871 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Mastercard by 5.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after acquiring an additional 199,424 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,831,763,000 after purchasing an additional 554,366 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $701.00 price target (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Mastercard from $696.00 to $742.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Mastercard from $667.00 to $726.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $713.21.

Mastercard News Summary

Here’s some of the latest news about MA:

• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target to $764 from $730 and reiterated an “outperform” rating, signaling confidence in Mastercard’s prospects. Read more about Bernstein’s price target
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup increased its target to $800 from $675 and maintained a “buy” rating, adding to the recent bullish analyst view. Read more about Citigroup’s price target
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is partnering with Sage and Adyen on small-business financial services. Mastercard will provide the card network for Sage business debit cards, while Adyen supplies banking infrastructure for the initial French rollout. Read about the Sage, Adyen and Mastercard partnership

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3%

MA opened at $660.63 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $681.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $575.52 billion, a PE ratio of 34.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $597.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $541.07.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.20%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,613,851.08. The trade was a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.43, for a total value of $2,774,012.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $22,966,872.50. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods. The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.