FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Long Beach increased its holdings in Mastercard by 19.6% during the second quarter, bringing its total ownership to 5,161 shares, valued at nearly $2.9 million.
• Mastercard recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76, which will be paid on November 7, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.5%.
• Several hedge funds, including Kingstone Capital Partners and Wellington Management Group, have significantly increased their stakes in Mastercard, with hedge funds now owning 97.28% of the stock.

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,161 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 847 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $524,914,000 after buying an additional 908,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,391 shares of company stock worth $20,836,514 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $565.63 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $511.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $579.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $560.57. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 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 net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $630.89.

Mastercard Company 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.

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