Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,836 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,665 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $27,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 55,868.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after acquiring an additional 955,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after acquiring an additional 542,841 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. HSBC raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $670.61.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $517.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $461.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $538.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $556.61.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 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.