Woodline Partners LP Purchases 19,578 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Mastercard shares by 39.8%, acquiring a total of 68,804 shares valued at approximately $37.7 million.
• Insider trading activity revealed that two insiders sold significant amounts of stock, totaling 59,481 shares worth over $32.6 million in the last quarter.
• Mastercard reported earnings of $4.15 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $8.13 billion, a 16.8% increase year-over-year.

Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 39.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,804 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,578 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in Mastercard were worth $37,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 986 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $626.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $536,480.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at $13,229,440. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,094 shares of company stock worth $26,521,861 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of MA stock traded down $7.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $580.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,242,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,763,323. The company has a 50 day moving average of $574.32 and a 200 day moving average of $558.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $525.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.99. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid 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 20.50%.

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.