Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Key Points

• Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 11.9% during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 11,055 shares valued at approximately $6.21 million.
• Mastercard's stock has seen favorable upgrades from several brokerages, with the average target price set at $630.89 and 24 analysts giving it a "Buy" rating.
• Insider activity revealed that Mastercard executives sold over 38,700 shares worth approximately $22.68 million in the last 90 days, indicating potential insider movements related to their stock holdings.

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 11.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,055 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MA. KeyCorp increased their price target on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted 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. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $630.89.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded down $8.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $576.38. 968,505 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,777,018. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.99. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $577.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $559.42. 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 (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 20.50%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,449 shares of company stock worth $21,974,441. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.