S Bank Fund Management Ltd Buys New Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd has purchased a new stake in Mastercard, acquiring 12,800 shares valued at approximately $7.02 million, making it the fund's 22nd largest holding.
• Insiders at Mastercard have been active, with Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick and Craig Vosburg selling significant shares, representing decreases in their positions of 3.62% and 19.38%, respectively.
• Recent analyst upgrades have increased target prices for Mastercard, with reports from Wells Fargo and UBS setting targets at $650 and $670, indicating a strong positive outlook for the stock.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,800 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,016,000. Mastercard comprises 1.3% of S Bank Fund Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,508,636,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213,123 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Mastercard by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,817,684,000 after buying an additional 1,207,787 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $561,313,000. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 50,438.6% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 981,460 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $516,807,000 after buying an additional 979,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $536,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,229,440. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,453 shares of company stock worth $20,178,667 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $617.93.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3%

MA stock traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $582.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,263,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,583,317. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $461.90 and a 1-year high of $594.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $563.30 and a 200 day moving average of $554.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $526.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.25, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%. The firm's revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

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.