587,548 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated $MA Purchased by SEB Asset Management AB

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 587,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $293,574,000. Mastercard makes up 1.3% of SEB Asset Management AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 861.6% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,324,743,000 after buying an additional 3,648,748 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $543.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $503.99 and a 200 day moving average of $516.23. The firm has a market cap of $480.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.92.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,625,225. The trade was a 22.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Company 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.