American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,156,166 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 130,736 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 1.6% of American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.57% of Mastercard worth $2,897,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 19.5% during the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 22,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,098,695,000 after purchasing an additional 931,132 shares during the period. Finally, Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.4% during the second quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $652.50.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of MA stock opened at $540.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $563.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $569.15. The stock has a market cap of $485.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% 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. 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.