Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Trimmed by PineStone Asset Management Inc.

PineStone Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,585,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 21,517 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 5.6% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $901,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $579.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $555.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.67. The firm has a market cap of $520.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.