Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 31.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,123 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.8% of Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $76,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. First Pacific Financial increased its stake in Mastercard by 113.8% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $640.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.92.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $543.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $480.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $503.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $516.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,625,225. The trade was a 22.71% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, 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 transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% 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 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.