First Interstate Bank Trims Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

First Interstate Bank reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,580 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $224,000. Fullcircle Wealth LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,319 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after buying an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 6.9% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 44,632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,645,000 after buying an additional 2,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.2% in the third quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 5,779 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded up $8.49 on Friday, reaching $508.08. The company had a trading volume of 3,753,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,450,197. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $469.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $378.48 and a 1 year high of $527.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $495.77 and its 200 day moving average is $466.84.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,423,320. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Compass Point initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target for the company. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $537.92.

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.