Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Ameriflex Group Inc.

Key Points

• Ameriflex Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Mastercard by 1,278.6%, now holding shares worth $741,000.
• Several large institutional investors have made adjustments to their positions in Mastercard, contributing to a total ownership of 97.28% by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Mastercard reported earnings of $4.15 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a 16.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $8.13 billion.

Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1,278.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,351 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,253 shares during the quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 365,537 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of 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 lifted its stake in shares of 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. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $626.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,636,125.55. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,481 shares of company stock worth $32,616,595. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:MA traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $594.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,653,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,779,682. The company has a market cap of $537.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $570.99 and a 200 day moving average of $557.28.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.50%.

About Mastercard

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.