Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases 817,836 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 817,836 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.9% of Wellington Management Group LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,139,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 target price (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $540.57 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $550.58 and a 200 day moving average of $527.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $492.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

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.