EULAV Asset Management Trims Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

EULAV Asset Management lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,116 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,697 shares during the quarter. EULAV Asset Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $22,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 2.6% in the third quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 455 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Pan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% during the third quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, William Blair upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $519.47 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $505.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $472.48. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $398.26 and a 1-year high of $534.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $476.79 billion, a PE ratio of 39.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.