Brown Shipley& Co Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 826 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $532.19 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $508.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $475.23. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $404.32 and a 1-year high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $488.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

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.