IFM Investors Pty Ltd Buys 4,656 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard by 3.0% in Q2, purchasing an additional 4,656 shares, bringing its total holdings to 160,368 shares valued at approximately $90.1 million.
• Mastercard reported earnings of $4.15 per share for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved a revenue of $8.13 billion, a 16.8% increase year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.5%, to be paid on November 7th to stockholders of record on October 9th.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 160,368 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,656 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 0.9% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Mastercard were worth $90,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in 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 worth $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,717 shares of company stock valued at $22,684,831. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. Two 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $630.89.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded down $2.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $583.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,744,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,280,804. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company's 50-day moving average is $577.23 and its 200-day moving average is $559.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $527.83 billion, a PE ratio of 39.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. 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.