1,159 Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,646 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,159 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $18,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $18,984,867,000 after purchasing an additional 486,283 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after purchasing an additional 480,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after purchasing an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after purchasing an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after purchasing an additional 554,366 shares in 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 $660.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $575.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $597.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $541.07. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $681.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. President Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $713.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total transaction of $4,296,155.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares in the company, valued at $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total transaction of $217,038.71. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,035,181.07. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here’s some of the latest news about MA:

• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target to $764 from $730 and reiterated an “outperform” rating, signaling confidence in Mastercard’s prospects. Read more about Bernstein’s price target
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup increased its target to $800 from $675 and maintained a “buy” rating, adding to the recent bullish analyst view. Read more about Citigroup’s price target
• Positive Sentiment: Other partnerships broaden Mastercard’s business-banking reach, including a BMO commercial card in Canada and Citizens’ treasury-management collaboration using Mastercard technology. Read about Mastercard’s business-banking partnerships

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods. The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.