MQS Management LLC Sells 254 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

MQS Management LLC decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 23.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 819 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 254 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $460,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 19.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,226,000 after buying an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 18.9% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 641 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 16.0% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 4,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,500,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 12.8% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial set a $638.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Saturday. Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.96.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of MA opened at $573.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $518.65 billion, a PE ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $579.51 and its 200 day moving average is $566.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.