Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,762 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $45,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,783 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,376,000 after buying an additional 3,823 shares during the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 878 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 28,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $16,035,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% in the third quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 45,993 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,161,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.48.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $577.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.91, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $555.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.53. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. 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 (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 22.25%.

Mastercard Company 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.