Weitz Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Weitz Investment Management acquired 145,350 Mastercard shares worth approximately $74.7 million, making the stock its fifth-largest holding at 5.2% of the portfolio.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $664.71. Mastercard also exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, with revenue rising 14.1% year over year.
• Mastercard insiders sold 71,357 shares valued at roughly $40.6 million over the past quarter, while the company continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share.

Weitz Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 145,350 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $74,652,000. Mastercard comprises approximately 5.2% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Athena Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Novem Group grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Novem Group now owns 4,680 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,404,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 444 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $629.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $664.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider J. Mehra Sachin sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.07, for a total transaction of $572,070.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,916 shares in the company, valued at $22,834,746.12. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 71,357 shares of company stock valued at $40,637,262 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $598.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $542.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $518.46. The stock has a market cap of $524.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.14%.

About Mastercard

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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