Assetmark Inc. Buys 15,025 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 244,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,025 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $122,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,089,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $1,113,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 396.3% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,343,000 after purchasing an additional 36,848 shares during the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,328,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 65,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,344,000 after buying an additional 3,768 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,625,225. The trade was a 22.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $551.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $503.03 and a 200 day moving average of $516.04. The company has a market cap of $486.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.73.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.92.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.