Ameriflex Group Inc. Acquires 513 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 38.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $524,914,000 after acquiring an additional 908,116 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.89.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MA opened at $581.08 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $525.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.97. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $580.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $561.67.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company’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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.