Jennison Associates LLC Buys 480,725 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.8% of Jennison Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,559,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,625,225. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% 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 have sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock worth $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 recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Eight 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.92.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $543.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $480.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $503.99 and a 200-day moving average of $516.23. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released 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 business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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