GW&K Investment Management LLC Sells 9,667 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

GW&K Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,705 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,667 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $25,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 43,445.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,252,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,929,940 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3,339.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 815,506 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $322,867,000 after acquiring an additional 791,799 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,746,342 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $691,394,000 after purchasing an additional 569,534 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 30.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,839,088 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $728,113,000 after purchasing an additional 428,627 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded up $3.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $462.12. 294,279 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,415,780. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $465.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $444.82. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $357.85 and a 52 week high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $429.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,573,580 shares of company stock valued at $715,722,727 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MA. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $497.78.

Mastercard 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.