Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 907,184 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.7%, acquiring an additional 907,184 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $11 billion.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Wellington Management Group LLP, have significantly increased their holdings in Mastercard during the first quarter of the year.
• Mastercard recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.5% and a dividend payout ratio of 20.50%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.4% of Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 2.20% of Mastercard worth $11,015,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after buying an additional 8,213,123 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in 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. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $561,313,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

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 owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total transaction of $549,372.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,630,844.40. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,269 shares of company stock worth $30,634,699. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $592.2310 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $535.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.93, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $563.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $555.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $461.90 and a 52 week high of $594.71.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.50 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $617.93.

About Mastercard

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.

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