Balentine LLC Makes New $347,000 Investment in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Balentine LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 618 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $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 boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 908,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Compass Point set a $620.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $647.89.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $552.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $499.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $576.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $567.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were 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 owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.