McCarthy Asset Management Inc. Sells 171 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

McCarthy Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.8% of McCarthy Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. McCarthy Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BNP Paribas lowered Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.1 %

Mastercard stock opened at $522.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $411.60 and a one year high of $535.77. The stock 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’s fifty day moving average is $514.42 and its 200 day moving average is $479.31.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Mastercard 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.