Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp has increased its holdings in Mastercard by 86.6%, owning 7,436 shares valued at approximately $4,076,000 as per their latest SEC filing.
• Multiple institutional investors have recently entered positions in Mastercard, contributing to a total of 97.28% ownership of the company by such entities.
• The company reported $4.15 earnings per share in its latest quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, and recorded a year-over-year revenue growth of 16.8%, reaching $8.13 billion.

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 86.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,436 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,452 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $4,508,636,000 after buying an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% in 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 buying an additional 1,207,787 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $617,303,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $561,313,000. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 50,438.6% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 981,460 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $516,807,000 after buying an additional 979,518 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Macquarie reduced their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $615.33.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded down $6.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $559.73. 3,316,713 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,427,760. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $439.59 and a one year high of $594.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $564.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $551.95. The company has a market cap of $510.31 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%. The company's quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.32%.

Mastercard Company 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.