Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Increases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $24,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 4th 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 period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,800,202,000 after acquiring an additional 282,739 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Mastercard by 9.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $633.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,258 shares of company stock worth $20,885,067 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $590.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $537.94 billion, a PE ratio of 42.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $591.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $547.49 and a 200 day moving average of $541.73.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.