Apella Capital LLC Acquires 15,593 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Apella Capital LLC increased its Mastercard holdings by 2,387.9% in Q2, acquiring 15,593 additional shares, bringing total ownership to 16,246 shares worth approximately $9.18 million.
• Mastercard's CFO sold 17,263 shares for over $10.2 million, reducing his ownership by 35.60%, while other insiders also sold shares, totaling nearly $26.5 million in recent months.
• The company recently reported a quarterly revenue increase of 16.8% year-over-year, with earnings per share surpassing estimates at $4.15 compared to a consensus of $4.05.

Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2,387.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,246 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,593 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted 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 buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 valued at $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,094 shares of company stock valued at $26,521,861. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE:MA opened at $580.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $574.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $558.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $525.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $626.54.

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.

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