Findlay Park Partners LLP Buys 7,100 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Findlay Park Partners LLP increased its holdings in Mastercard shares by 1.3%, now owning approximately 533,590 shares valued at about $292.47 million, making it their 5th largest position.
• Vanguard Group Inc. and other hedge funds also reported increases in their positions, with Vanguard owning over 77 million shares valued at approximately $42.5 billion.
• Mastercard's recent quarterly earnings exceeded estimates, reporting $4.15 EPS on $8.13 billion in revenue, marking a 16.8% year-over-year revenue growth.

Findlay Park Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 533,590 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,100 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 3.0% of Findlay Park Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Findlay Park Partners LLP owned 0.06% of Mastercard worth $292,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.7% during the first quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 130,460 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $71,508,000 after purchasing an additional 9,275 shares during the last quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% during the first quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV now owns 656 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,231,135 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $674,810,000 after purchasing an additional 11,730 shares during the last quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 11.2% during the first quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,358 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.5% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 6,149 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,370,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,269 shares of company stock valued at $30,634,699 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of MA traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $590.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,159,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,693,292. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The business's fifty day moving average is $567.11 and its 200 day moving average is $556.47. The firm has a market cap of $534.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. Mastercard's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $617.93.

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.