Jackson Square Partners LLC Sells 3,484 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Jackson Square Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 25.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,484 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 2.4% of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Robbins Farley grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 61 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.18.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $549.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $493.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $555.27 and a 200-day moving average of $564.31. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.07%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.