VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 83,562 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,957,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $524,914,000 after acquiring an additional 908,116 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.04.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $561.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $507.53 billion, a PE ratio of 37.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $580.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $563.27.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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 $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.50%.

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.