Interval Partners LP Raises Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Interval Partners LP increased its holding in Mastercard by 61.4%, acquiring an additional 5,579 shares, raising its total stake to 14,659 shares valued at approximately $8 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have significantly raised their positions in Mastercard, including GAMMA Investing, which boosted its stake by an extraordinary 65,631.5% in the first quarter, now holding over 8 million shares worth $4.5 billion.
• Mastercard recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $3.04 and a yield of 0.5%, with a dividend payout ratio of 20.5%.

Interval Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 61.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,659 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,579 shares during the quarter. Interval Partners LP's holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 21.1% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 484,874 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $265,769,000 after purchasing an additional 84,328 shares in the last quarter. Greenline Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the first quarter. Greenline Partners LLC now owns 9,677 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,304,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 5,416 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,969,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 12,516 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,860,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 3,931 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,155,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business's 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 owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,481 shares of company stock worth $32,616,595 over the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $11.43 on Friday, reaching $584.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,432,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,229,058. The firm has a market cap of $528.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99. 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's 50-day moving average price is $572.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $557.48. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. Mastercard's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $626.54.

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.