Arjuna Capital Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Arjuna Capital trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.9% of Arjuna Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $543.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $488.24 billion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $558.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $567.93. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.50.

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.