Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Martin Currie Ltd.

Martin Currie Ltd. grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 161,364 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,885 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 3.6% of Martin Currie Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Martin Currie Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $88,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Horizon Investments LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 12.4% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 17.6% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 68,296 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,435,000 after purchasing an additional 10,236 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 5.2% in the first quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 37,951 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the period. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $575,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 58.4% in the first quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 7,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,908,000 after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.33.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,453 shares of company stock worth $20,178,667. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE MA opened at $584.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $528.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $563.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $554.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $461.90 and a 52 week high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Mastercard Company 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.