Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Cut by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 117,101 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,590 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 1.1% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $66,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after buying an additional 931,132 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,062,509,000 after acquiring an additional 542,841 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after purchasing an additional 13,397,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,725,317,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $540.36 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $555.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $563.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. 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 (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. HSBC raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $739.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Six investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.27.

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.