Caxton Associates LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Caxton Associates LP raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 344.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,632 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whalerock Point Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,729,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Mastercard by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $560.97 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $511.44 billion, a PE ratio of 40.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $532.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $531.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.31 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.