Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Castleark Management LLC

Castleark Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 130,769 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,248 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 2.6% of Castleark Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $64,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Mastercard by 51.7% during 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 period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $784,148,000 after buying an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 52.8% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $528.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $484.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $513.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $478.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $409.23 and a 12 month high of $535.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.