Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 1,331 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 68,153 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,331 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $38,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 22,400.0% in the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3,694.7% during the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 9,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,288,000 after purchasing an additional 9,052 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after purchasing an additional 931,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $579.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $520.49 billion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $555.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $565.84. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Compass Point set a $620.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.48.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.