Montag A & Associates Inc. Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Montag A & Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,693 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% in the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.9% during the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,276,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,601,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $552.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $571.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $569.63. 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 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $499.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.44%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.26.

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.