S&G Foundation Makes New $3.60 Million Investment in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

S&G Foundation bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 7,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,595,000. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.2% of S&G Foundation’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $52,387,000. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $5,176,000. Weitz Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $74,652,000. X Square Capital LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $819,000. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $1,750,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $664.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider J. Mehra Sachin sold 7,444 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This trade represents a 15.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 71,357 shares of company stock valued at $40,637,262 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $598.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $542.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $518.46. The company has a market capitalization of $524.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

About Mastercard

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.