Ascentis Wealth Management LLC Purchases 377,338 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Ascentis Wealth Management dramatically increased its Mastercard position, purchasing 377,338 additional shares in the second quarter for a total holding of 378,717 shares valued at approximately $194.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.28% of Mastercard.
• Mastercard reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.04 and revenue of $9.28 billion, exceeding analyst expectations; revenue rose 14.1% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with the stock receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $661.93. Meanwhile, insiders have sold $35.8 million worth of shares over the past 90 days, primarily through pre-arranged trading plans.

Ascentis Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 27,363.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 378,717 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 377,338 shares during the quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $194,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total value of $8,838,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,873,475. This trade represents a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,913 shares of company stock worth $35,769,036. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $574.21 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $535.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $517.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $503.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.72. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $464.52 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Truist Financial increased their target price on Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Clear Str upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $661.93.

Mastercard Profile

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.

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