World Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 512.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,491 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Mastercard by 51.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $532.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $488.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.28, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $516.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.61. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $411.60 and a 12-month high of $536.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm 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%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.28.

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.