AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 79,418 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 454,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,418 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $200,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 145.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after buying an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,096,470,000 after buying an additional 742,076 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,974,478,000 after buying an additional 676,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,608,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,803,956,000 after purchasing an additional 605,909 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $489.45 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $501.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $468.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.37. The company has a market cap of $452.17 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MA. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. William Blair upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.70.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.