Dearborn Partners LLC Purchases New Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 64,596 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,276,000. Mastercard accounts for about 1.7% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Ally Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $13,354,000. Elefante Mark B purchased a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $8,372,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $205,000. S&G Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,595,000. Finally, Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $52,387,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MA opened at $598.69 on Wednesday. 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 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $542.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $518.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $701.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Mastercard from $629.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $664.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider J. Mehra Sachin sold 1,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.07, for a total value of $572,070.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 39,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,834,746.12. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total value of $8,838,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,873,475. The trade was a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.