Sycomore Asset Management Has $7.17 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sycomore Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 142.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,859 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,324 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.3% of Sycomore Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 213.2% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 8,456 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,607,000 after buying an additional 5,756 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 41,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,865,000 after acquiring an additional 2,676 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 96.8% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 593,789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $253,144,000 after purchasing an additional 292,064 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Mastercard by 14.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $608,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.70.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $493.80 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $471.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $359.77 and a one year high of $501.80. The company has a market capitalization of $459.04 billion, a PE ratio of 39.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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 company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,423,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is currently 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.