LifeWealth Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

LifeWealth Investments LLC raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,049 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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. raised its stake 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 raised its stake 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. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.00.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $570.57 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $579.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $564.14. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-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 stock has a market cap of $515.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.47, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.