Drake & Associates LLC Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Drake & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 833 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 48.6% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% during the first quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 734,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,897,000 after acquiring an additional 15,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,938,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MA shares. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.64.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $513.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $477.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $485.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.95. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $359.77 and a 12-month high of $517.04.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.