Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Makes New $81.29 Million Investment in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 162,688 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $81,289,000. Mastercard makes up about 1.2% of Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Betterment LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,548,000 after purchasing an additional 178,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $431,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.92.

Mastercard Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $551.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $503.03 and a 200-day moving average of $516.04. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $464.52 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $486.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.73.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,625,225. This trade represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.