ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 13,116 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,786 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 13,116 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $102,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Curio Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 22,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 153.6% during the third quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $175,872,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 15,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,723,000 after buying an additional 7,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Mastercard by 3,694.7% in the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 9,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,288,000 after buying an additional 9,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of MA opened at $535.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $480.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $555.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.13.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial set a $609.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.18.

About Mastercard

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.