Samalin Investment Counsel LLC Makes New $254,000 Investment in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Samalin Investment Counsel LLC invested approximately $254,000 in Mastercard Incorporated by purchasing 463 shares in the first quarter.
• Major institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in Mastercard, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by over 65,000%.
• Mastercard's recent quarterly earnings surpassed analysts' expectations, reporting $4.15 earnings per share and a revenue of $8.13 billion.

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 463 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $561,313,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,269 shares of company stock valued at $30,634,699. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MA. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $617.93.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1%

MA stock opened at $592.88 on Wednesday. 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 moving average price of $565.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $556.05. The company has a market cap of $535.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

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