Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Invests $295,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. invested $295,000 in Mastercard Incorporated, acquiring 539 shares during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors currently own an impressive 97.28% of Mastercard's stock, highlighting strong confidence in the company.
• Mastercard's recent quarterly earnings report revealed a net margin of 45.21% and an EPS of $3.73, exceeding analyst expectations.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 539 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.8% during the first quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,416,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS bought a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $478,000. Westover Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% during the first quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.8% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 168,329 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $92,264,000 after buying an additional 2,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elefante Mark B boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 25.4% during the first quarter. Elefante Mark B now owns 12,164 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,667,000 after buying an additional 2,461 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $567.07. 860,709 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,806,602. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $439.59 and a 52 week high of $594.71. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $565.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $550.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $517.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. Mastercard's revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 21.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MA. Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.90.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total transaction of $3,328,555.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $20,636,125.55. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.