Quest Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Quest Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 25.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,499 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 48.6% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at $17,854,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $521.63 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $398.26 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $504.78 and a 200 day moving average of $471.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.