C WorldWide Group Holding A S Takes $1.51 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• C WorldWide Group Holding A/S acquired 2,944 Mastercard shares worth approximately $1.51 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 97.28% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $666.64; several firms recently raised their targets, including Wolfe Research to $740.
• Mastercard reported quarterly EPS of $5.04 and revenue of $9.28 billion, beating estimates and increasing revenue 14.1% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, representing a 0.6% yield.

C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,944 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,512,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Betterment LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 35.8% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $380,548,000 after buying an additional 178,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth $431,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 31,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,781,695.49. This trade represents a 12.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 74,623 shares of company stock worth $42,544,606 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Clear Str upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $701.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $666.64.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $570.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $499.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company's fifty day moving average price is $561.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $522.20. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $464.52 and a 52-week high of $601.62.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.14%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated NYSE: MA is a global technology company that operates a payments network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payment transactions, including credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, by providing the infrastructure used to authorize, clear and settle transactions.

Mastercard's products and services include its Mastercard-branded payment cards, digital payment tools, contactless payment technology and payment solutions for businesses and governments.

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