Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock: Welch Group LLC Grows Position

Welch Group LLC grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $11,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fundsmith LLP acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $639,458,000. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 147.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,682,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $863,969,000 after buying an additional 1,001,671 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 295.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 860,011 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $441,702,000 after buying an additional 642,724 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $293,574,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 2,464,499 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,412,000 after buying an additional 575,412 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $638.50 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $586.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $536.21. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $644.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $559.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm 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%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total value of $2,676,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,165,000. The trade was a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of Mastercard 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 transaction, the insider owned 40,916 shares in the company, valued at $23,613,851.08. The trade was a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold 39,420 shares of company stock worth $22,882,963 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. President Capital increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on Mastercard from $710.00 to $688.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.91.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.