In Depth Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

In Depth Partners LLC reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,871 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 4.5% of In Depth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. In Depth Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after buying an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after buying an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $259,071,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.7 %

Mastercard stock traded down $3.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $527.89. 160,372 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,452,321. The company has a market cap of $484.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $404.32 and a twelve month high of $535.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $510.37 and a 200-day moving average of $476.43.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

About Mastercard

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.