Y.D. More Investments Ltd Decreases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Y.D. More Investments Ltd lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,942 shares during the quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.4% during the second quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 31,143 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $1,530,000. ANB Bank raised its position in Mastercard by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. ANB Bank now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Mastercard by 25.1% in the second quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 558 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $412,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.50.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of MA opened at $545.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $568.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $569.93.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

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.