Atwater Malick LLC Raises Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Atwater Malick LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,074 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $577.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $522.30 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $580.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $561.32. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MA shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $630.89.

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.