Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stake Increased by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,184 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 valued at $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $4,238,764,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE MA opened at $556.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $503.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $581.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $562.90.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.04.

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.