Marco Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Marco Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 534 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Argus raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of MA opened at $520.86 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $506.91 and its 200 day moving average is $473.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $404.32 and a 12-month high of $534.03. The company has a market capitalization of $478.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.