Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,719 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $35,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 55.0% in the first quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 93 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.17.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $521.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $481.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $384.30 and a fifty-two week high of $527.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $498.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $468.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Mastercard 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.