O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,181 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,809 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $21,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Delta Asset Management LLC TN bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 74.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock traded up $2.93 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $415.57. 1,841,600 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,697,299. The firm has a market cap of $391.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.95, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $396.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $377.93. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $276.87 and a 1-year high of $417.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.18 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 43.37% and a return on equity of 178.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. 888 reissued a “reiterates” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $437.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $442.00 to $452.00 in a report on Thursday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $440.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 5,164 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total value of $1,927,411.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,164 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,851.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 5,164 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total value of $1,927,411.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,164 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,851.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 6,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,533,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $18,596,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 406,431 shares of company stock worth $160,930,754 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.