National Pension Service Buys 188,650 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,506,270 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 188,650 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 0.7% of National Pension Service’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. National Pension Service’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $743,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its stake in Mastercard by 42.2% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 7.4% during the third quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,411 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,660,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 32,489 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,043,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 774 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $346,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.0 %

MA opened at $507.93 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $469.25 billion, a PE ratio of 38.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $384.20 and a twelve month high of $527.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $495.77 and a 200-day moving average of $466.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MA. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $537.92.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.