Katamaran Capital LLP Buys Shares of 2,784 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Katamaran Capital LLP bought a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,466,000. Mastercard makes up about 1.9% of Katamaran Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 2,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard 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 directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was 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 owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Down 7.7 %

MA stock opened at $489.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $446.68 billion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $550.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $528.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 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.