AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Buys 3,649 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 516.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,649 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 73.2% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,683,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,632,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $563.30 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $580.71 and its 200 day moving average is $563.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $509.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by 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.