Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,958 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,489 shares during the quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Mastercard by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 46.0% in the 2nd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 667 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth $6,212,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its stake in Mastercard by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 3,179 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,786,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. HSBC upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Macquarie Infrastructure increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $670.61.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of MA stock opened at $517.69 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $538.29 and a 200-day moving average of $556.61. The firm 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 (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.07%.

Mastercard Company 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.