Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,031,235 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 13,378 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,155,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $550.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $555.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.48. The company has a market capitalization of $494.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Redburn Partners set a $685.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $739.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.