Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. Invests $18.90 Million in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 33,759 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $18,901,000. Mastercard makes up approximately 4.9% of Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $552.59 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $499.54 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $576.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $568.06. 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 (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued 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 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MA. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $647.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value 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. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.