27,058 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated $MA Purchased by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 27,058 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,816,000. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.8% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Mastercard by 820.0% in 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 buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $701.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $664.71.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total transaction of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,781,695.49. This represents a 12.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 that occurred on 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 owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.2%

Mastercard stock opened at $598.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $524.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $542.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $518.46.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.14%.

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.