Notis McConarty Edward Takes $8.42 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Notis McConarty Edward acquired 16,392 Mastercard shares worth approximately $8.42 million, making Mastercard its seventh-largest portfolio position and representing 3.6% of its holdings.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: Mastercard has an overall “Buy” consensus rating and a $664.71 average price target, with several firms recently raising their targets.
• Mastercard reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $5.04 and revenue of $9.28 billion, while shares opened at $598.69 near their 12-month high. Insiders, however, sold $40.6 million of stock over the past three months.

Notis McConarty Edward acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,392 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,419,000. Mastercard makes up 3.6% of Notis McConarty Edward's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Mastercard from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $701.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $664.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.68, for a total transaction of $9,439,383.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 115,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,806,033.28. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $598.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $524.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $542.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $518.46.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 19.14%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

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