Argentarii LLC Increases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Argentarii LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 81.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,215 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 997 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $6,022,224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,817,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207,787 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $617,303,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $561,313,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total value of $87,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,887,900. The trade was a 4.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $536,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,229,440. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,441 shares of company stock valued at $20,173,035 over the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $2.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $562.55. 1,059,408 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,663,766. The stock has a market cap of $512.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $567.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $547.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $594.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $611.50.

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.