Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Smart Money Group LLC

Smart Money Group LLC grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 17.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,777 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $42,503,787,000 after acquiring an additional 365,537 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during 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 raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% during 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 buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1%

MA stock opened at $552.73 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $499.67 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $573.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $568.66.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.44%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MA. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Compass Point set a $620.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $649.26.

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.