Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Acquires 259 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.3% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Sunpointe LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Stage Harbor Financial LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 10.3% in the third quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC now owns 642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Safeguard Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.5% in the third quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC now owns 716 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 28.3% during the third quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,423,320. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. BNP Paribas cut Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.64.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $508.12. The company had a trading volume of 511,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,430,345. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $359.77 and a one year high of $509.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $472.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $483.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $463.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced 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 net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.99%.

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.