WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST Grows Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 595,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 3.9% of WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $334,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 4,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,672,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC now owns 1,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 17.0% in the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 2,024 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $563.77 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $509.65 billion, a PE ratio of 38.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $581.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $562.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 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 business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price target 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.04.

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.