Traynor Capital Management Inc. Makes New $202,000 Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 419 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 81.0% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 1,171 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 17.9% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 29,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,846,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 11.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 29.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,396 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 11,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MA. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $497.78.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $456.96 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $490.00. The company has a market cap of $424.79 billion, a PE ratio of 36.32, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $452.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $452.47.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.28, for a total transaction of $4,038,043.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,362,683.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.07, for a total transaction of $50,068,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,672,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,801,697,969.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.28, for a total transaction of $4,038,043.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,362,683.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,894,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,305,811,390 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.