Mastercard Incorporated $MA Position Reduced by Alta Capital Management LLC

Alta Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,244 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 3.1% of Alta Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $55,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Robbins Farley grew its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 45.2% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 61 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE MA opened at $550.64 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $555.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $564.48. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $494.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $739.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.18.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.