Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $10.58 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 50.2% in Q2, owning 18,835 shares valued at approximately $10.58 million.
• Mastercard reported $4.15 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $4.05, with a revenue of $8.13 billion.
• Recent analysts' reports indicate a consensus rating of "Buy" for Mastercard, with an average target price of $630.89.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 50.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,835 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,292 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 1.6% in the second quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 11,889 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,681,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 31,120 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $17,488,000 after purchasing an additional 5,681 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 561 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 110.6% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 12,645 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,106,000 after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MA stock opened at $581.08 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. 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 stock has a market cap of $525.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $580.26 and a 200-day moving average of $562.03.

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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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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