Cannon Advisors Inc. Has $2.84 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Cannon Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,051 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 2.3% of Cannon Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Cannon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth $11,421,213,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Mastercard by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,580,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3,493.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 934,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $524,914,000 after purchasing an additional 908,116 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $545.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $489.68 billion, a PE ratio of 36.77, a PEG 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 company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $568.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $569.93.

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 net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. 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 a consensus target price of $652.50.

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.