ABC Arbitrage SA Purchases New Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA purchased 1,689 shares of Mastercard for approximately $926,000 in the first quarter, contributing to the significant institutional ownership of the stock, which stands at 97.28%.
• Mastercard reported a quarterly EPS of $4.15, surpassing estimates, with a net margin of 44.93% and year-over-year revenue growth of 16.8%.
• Insider trading activity included Craig Vosburg selling 14,051 shares, resulting in a 19.38% decrease in ownership, while Mastercard's annual dividend yield was declared at 0.5%.

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,689 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $926,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 548 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,363 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $1,007,000. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total transaction of $549,372.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,630,844.40. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,603 shares of company stock valued at $20,265,667 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.4%

NYSE MA traded up $13.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $574.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,907,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,618,541. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $453.46 and a 52 week high of $594.71. The company has a market capitalization of $523.70 billion, a PE ratio of 38.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $563.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $553.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. Mastercard's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MA. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $615.33.

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.