Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Mastercard by 11.2%, making it the 6th largest position in their portfolio, with ownership of approximately 1.4% of the company's shares valued at over $1 billion.
• Mastercard recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.15, surpassing analysts' estimates, while also showing a revenue increase of 16.8% year-over-year.
• Insiders at Mastercard, including Raj Seshadri and Julius Genachowski, have sold significant amounts of stock, with combined sales of over $20 million in the last 90 days.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,851,539 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 185,812 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 1.4% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.20% of Mastercard worth $1,013,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,817,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207,787 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the first 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. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 7,610,333 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,007,373,000 after purchasing an additional 71,874 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $615.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,453 shares of company stock valued at $20,178,667 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $6.24 on Thursday, hitting $584.14. 2,642,031 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,821,715. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $563.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $554.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $528.07 billion, a PE ratio of 39.39, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $461.90 and a 1 year high of $594.71. 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 (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.50%.

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.