Vestcor Inc Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 29,595 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,898 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $14,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during 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 during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Oldfather Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.6% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.1 %

Mastercard stock opened at $522.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $479.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.55, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $411.60 and a fifty-two week high of $535.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $514.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $479.31.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released 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. 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.28.

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.