Conning Inc. Sells 337 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Conning Inc. lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,087 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 337 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $508.08 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $378.48 and a 1 year high of $527.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $495.77 and its 200 day moving average is $466.89. The company has a market cap of $469.38 billion, a PE ratio of 38.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $537.92.

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.