Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,072,427 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 48,533 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.9% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.56% of Mastercard worth $2,780,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.1% in the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 13,296 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 7.3% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 34,657 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $18,996,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 8,227 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,509,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 37.3% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,614 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $24,454,000 after purchasing an additional 12,110 shares during the period. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 19,632 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $10,761,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $633.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.90.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $553.45. 906,148 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,661,385. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $567.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $548.05. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $594.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $504.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 196.87% and a net margin of 45.21%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 21.32%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard 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 transaction of $601,447.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,921 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard 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.