NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 472 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

NFJ Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,993 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 472 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $26,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 58.7% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 54,838 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $24,192,000 after buying an additional 4,548 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% during the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 2,847 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 19.0% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,508 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 11.1% in the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 8,247 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,638,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

MA traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $530.78. 315,871 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,452,737. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $487.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.17, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $510.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $476.43. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $404.32 and a one year high of $535.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BNP Paribas cut Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.