Machina Capital S.A.S. Buys New Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,314 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $560,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,280 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 74.3% in the third quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 10.8% during the third quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,983 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,898 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,523,000 after buying an additional 3,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA traded up $5.79 on Monday, hitting $449.37. 2,513,529 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,473,001. The firm has a market cap of $419.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $469.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $438.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.22 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 142,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $442.14, for a total value of $62,783,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,377,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,612,262,959.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 142,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $442.14, for a total transaction of $62,783,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,377,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,612,262,959.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 725,088 shares of company stock worth $329,657,858. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho dropped their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.27.

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.