Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 138.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,080 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 1.0% of Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $41,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Trek Financial LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 3.9% in the first quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 2,639 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.6% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 28,812 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,792,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 6.6% in the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,587,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Symmetry Inc boosted its stake in Mastercard by 5.5% in the first quarter. Financial Symmetry Inc now owns 496 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Compass Point set a $620.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $647.59.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $553.55 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $573.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.77. The company has a market cap of $500.42 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

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.