United Bank Reduces Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

United Bank trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,195 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 133 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 1.4% of United Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. United Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 46.4% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,120,000 after purchasing an additional 4,685 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,969 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,911,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 11,296 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,440,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,938,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 24,999 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,039,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.17.

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 0.00 % 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. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $524.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.56 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $499.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.84. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $386.74 and a twelve month high of $528.84.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

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.