Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Has $8.94 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,112 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.5% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised 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 worth $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 bought a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $259,071,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $532.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market capitalization of $489.14 billion, a PE ratio of 40.31, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $510.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $476.15. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $404.32 and a twelve month high of $535.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Macquarie raised their target price on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard 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.