Plato Investment Management Ltd Takes $13.82 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management acquired 27,058 Mastercard shares worth approximately $13.82 million, making MA its 22nd-largest holding and representing 0.8% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 97.28% of Mastercard.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an overall “Buy” rating and an average price target of $664.71. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley maintained positive ratings, while one analyst downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• Mastercard exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.04 in EPS and $9.28 billion in revenue, with revenue rising 14.1% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.87, equivalent to a 0.6% annualized yield.

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 27,058 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,816,000. Mastercard makes up 0.8% of Plato Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after buying an additional 72,461,743 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,773,153,000 after acquiring an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $10,256,368,000 after acquiring an additional 759,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,046,550 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,160,657,000 after acquiring an additional 123,528 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $701.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $597.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $632.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $664.71.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,625,225. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $598.69 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $542.94 and a 200-day moving average of $518.46. The company has a market capitalization of $524.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.14%.

Mastercard Company 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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