Holocene Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 214.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 535,503 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 365,324 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 1.1% of Holocene Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Holocene Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of Mastercard worth $264,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $259,071,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MA opened at $532.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $404.32 and a 1-year high of $535.77. The stock has a market cap of $489.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $510.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $476.43.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.