Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.4% in Q1, owning 4.8 million shares worth approximately $2.63 billion, making it the fund's 4th largest holding.
• Several equities research analysts have issued positive ratings for Mastercard, with target prices raised to between $661 and $670, indicating strong growth expectations.
• Mastercard recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76, reflecting an annual yield of 0.5%, with a payout ratio of 20.50%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,805,237 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 114,242 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 2.6% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.53% of Mastercard worth $2,633,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,015,557,000 after acquiring an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Mastercard by 38.6% during 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,508,636,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $623.03.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0%

MA stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $591.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 919,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,779,686. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $534.80 billion, a PE ratio of 39.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.99. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $570.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $557.03.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,269 shares of company stock worth $30,634,699. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.