Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 26,538 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,651 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 145.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $528.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $485.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $508.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $474.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $404.32 and a 12-month high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Susquehanna upped their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard 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.