Rhumbline Advisers Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,557,371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 28,291 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.7% of Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $875,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $540.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $563.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $569.09. The company has a market cap of $485.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MA shares. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Macquarie increased their target price on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $652.50.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was 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 owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently 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.