Premier Fund Managers Ltd Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard by 52.3%, acquiring an additional 14,509 shares, bringing its total holdings to 42,276 shares valued at approximately $22.86 million.
• Mastercard posted $3.73 earnings per share in its latest quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $3.57, with revenue reaching $7.25 billion.
• The company recently announced a $0.76 quarterly dividend, which will be distributed to shareholders on August 8th, marking an annualized yield of 0.53%.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 52.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,276 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,509 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in Mastercard were worth $22,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 70,472 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,108,000 after purchasing an additional 7,452 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. Trustco Bank Corp N Y purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total transaction of $8,220,537.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,196,757.55. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.5%

MA traded down $8.51 on Friday, hitting $557.96. 2,232,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,823,854. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $439.59 and a twelve month high of $594.71. The company has a market cap of $508.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $564.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $551.39.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The company's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $615.33.

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.