Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 113,238 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,327,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,238 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.9% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.47% of Mastercard worth $1,908,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,452 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in 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 valued at $3,607,000 after buying an additional 5,756 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.9% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 41,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,865,000 after buying an additional 2,676 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,000,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 96.8% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 593,789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $253,144,000 after acquiring an additional 292,064 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total transaction of $62,540,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,762,504,462.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 605,124 shares of company stock worth $280,045,189 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.08.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $493.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $465.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $460.98. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $501.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $458.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

Mastercard Company 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.