Troy Asset Management Ltd Sells 6,282 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Troy Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,423 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,282 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.8% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $68,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MA shares. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Compass Point set a $620.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.81.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $571.40 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $554.16 and a 200 day moving average of $566.33. The company has a market cap of $513.12 billion, a PE ratio of 36.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s 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.