Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,099 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $553.55 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $573.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.77. The firm has a market cap of $500.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted 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 company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 19.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $647.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Mastercard

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.