ING Groep NV Buys 471,020 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV increased its stake in Mastercard by 34.5%, owning approximately 1.8 million shares valued at over $1 billion, making it their second largest holding.
• Mastercard is experiencing increased institutional interest, with multiple firms, including ExodusPoint Capital Management, significantly boosting their investments in the company.
• Mastercard's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $4.15, exceeding estimates, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 slated for August 8th.

ING Groep NV boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 34.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,837,373 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 471,020 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 7.0% of ING Groep NV's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. ING Groep NV owned 0.20% of Mastercard worth $1,007,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 111.5% in the 1st quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,375 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 101,017 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $55,370,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. Haven Private LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 1,307 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Trust Co boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Heritage Trust Co now owns 3,576 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,960,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,902 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,687,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total transaction of $8,220,537.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded up $3.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $569.18. The company had a trading volume of 2,245,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,608,880. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $564.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $552.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $518.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $449.04 and a fifty-two week high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 business's revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $615.33.

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.