SEB Asset Management AB Makes New $293.57 Million Investment in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 587,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $293,574,000. Mastercard comprises about 1.3% of SEB Asset Management AB’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. SEB Asset Management AB owned about 0.07% of Mastercard at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after acquiring an additional 72,461,743 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 861.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,324,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648,748 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:MA opened at $543.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $480.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $503.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $516.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,625,225. This trade represents a 22.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.92.

About Mastercard

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.