Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after acquiring an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of MA opened at $584.59 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $528.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $573.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $557.87.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.50 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were 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 was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,481 shares of company stock valued at $32,616,595 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $626.54.

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.