Exchange Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 473 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 50.9% during the first quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the period. Westhampton Capital LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% during the first quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 6,445 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,104,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3.9% during the first quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 9.7% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 2,735 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $444.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $413.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $359.77 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $451.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.44.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.91.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total value of $62,540,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,762,504,462.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,095.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,163,228 shares of company stock worth $1,428,540,870 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.