Walter Public Investments Inc. Purchases 2,571 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 5.4%, making it the firm's 4th largest position, with holdings valued at approximately $28 million.
• Mastercard reported an earnings beat for the last quarter, achieving $4.15 per share against analyst expectations of $4.05, with a notable 16.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5%, and a dividend payout ratio of 20.50%.

Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,571 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 4.7% of Walter Public Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Walter Public Investments Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $27,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $11,421,213,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $561,313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $630.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $536,480.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at $13,229,440. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,717 shares of company stock valued at $22,684,831 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Monday, reaching $584.64. The company had a trading volume of 3,241,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,787,726. The company has a market cap of $528.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's fifty day moving average is $577.23 and its 200-day moving average is $559.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 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.