Vestcor Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Vestcor Inc lowered its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,595 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,898 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $14,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.28.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $522.82 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $411.60 and a 1 year high of $535.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.86 billion, a PE ratio of 39.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $514.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $479.31.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.