Meitav Investment House Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,139 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 810 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $37,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Quilter Plc raised its position in Mastercard by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 524 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $526.74 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $494.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $466.27. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $373.11 and a twelve month high of $527.90. The company has a market capitalization of $486.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $570.00 to $593.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $525.68.

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.