Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC Sells 1,755 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC lessened its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,755 shares during the quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $19,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 163.5% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,578 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $28,984,000 after purchasing an additional 32,003 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in Mastercard by 56.5% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 59,873 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,645,000 after purchasing an additional 21,622 shares in the last quarter. Curi Capital LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 28.2% in the second quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 37,200 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,904,000 after purchasing an additional 8,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 112,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $63,025,000 after purchasing an additional 2,621 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:MA opened at $571.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $513.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $554.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $566.44.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.81.

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.