Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 280,445 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.4% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $157,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.04.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $556.80 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $581.01 and its 200 day moving average is $562.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $503.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.