Segment Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,614 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $524,914,000 after purchasing an additional 908,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,015,557,000 after acquiring an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,391 shares of company stock worth $20,836,514. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MA opened at $581.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $525.30 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $580.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $561.67. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.89.

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.