First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Mastercard by 22.8% in Q2, owning 35,925 shares valued at approximately $20 million according to its 13F filing.
• Several analysts have issued positive ratings for Mastercard, with a consensus average target price of $638.00 and multiple "buy" ratings.
• Mastercard announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with a payout ratio of 20.50%, to be paid on November 7th.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,925 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,669 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $20,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 2.6% during the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $638.00.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $570.57 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average is $579.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $564.14. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 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 firm has a market capitalization of $515.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.47, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during 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 business's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

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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