Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $61.40 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its stake in Mastercard by 2.3% in Q1, holding 112,390 shares valued at approximately $61.40 million.
• Mastercard's recent earnings report showed $4.15 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 16.8% to $8.13 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.5% and a low dividend payout ratio of 20.50%.

Erste Asset Management GmbH lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,390 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,681 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Mastercard were worth $61,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 7.7% in the first quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 26,350 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $14,443,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A raised its stake in Mastercard by 40.1% in the first quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 1,033,033 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $566,226,000 after buying an additional 295,590 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.9% in the first quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 179,891 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $98,643,000 after buying an additional 3,302 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in Mastercard by 0.6% in the first quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 103,925 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $56,963,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, JT Stratford LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,269 shares of company stock valued at $30,634,699 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA traded up $6.2280 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $598.1480. 2,388,839 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,623,511. The company has a market capitalization of $540.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $461.90 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $564.03 and a 200 day moving average of $555.73.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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