Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 2,900 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted 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 worth $8,974,478,000 after buying an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in 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 valued at $5,803,956,000 after buying an additional 605,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $501.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $462.83 and a 200-day moving average of $460.52. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $359.77 and a 12-month high of $501.74. The company has a market capitalization of $465.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 725,152 shares of company stock valued at $334,186,128 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Compass Point initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.08.

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.