S&CO Inc. Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. increased its Mastercard stake by 31% in the first quarter, adding 5,082 shares and bringing its total holdings to 21,481 shares valued at about $10.7 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several other funds also boosting positions; overall, hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of Mastercard shares.
• Mastercard reported strong results and remains well-regarded by analysts, beating quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while Wall Street currently assigns it an average “Buy” rating with a price target of $653.92.

S&CO Inc. raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 31.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,481 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,082 shares during the period. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $293,574,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,484,860 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,241,585,000 after purchasing an additional 149,000 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in Mastercard by 64.0% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 61,605 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $30,782,000 after buying an additional 24,038 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its position in Mastercard by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 154,742 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $76,443,000 after buying an additional 37,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,083,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,625,225. This trade represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $597.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $640.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $653.92.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.4%

MA stock opened at $543.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $480.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $503.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $516.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is 20.14%.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

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