World Investment Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,563 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $40,640,219,000 after purchasing an additional 377,302 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,725,627,000 after buying an additional 912,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,800,202,000 after buying an additional 282,739 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after acquiring an additional 817,836 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Macquarie dropped their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $611.50.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.9%

MA opened at $566.53 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $566.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $546.49. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $594.71. The firm has a market cap of $516.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The company's revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 310 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.00, for a total value of $173,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,669,203. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total transaction of $87,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,255 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,900. This represents a 4.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,441 shares of company stock valued at $20,173,035. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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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