Quest Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Quest Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 25.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,499 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0 %

MA stock opened at $521.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $504.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $471.95. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $398.26 and a 52 week high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $478.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.