Bank Hapoalim BM Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Bank Hapoalim BM lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Bank Hapoalim BM’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% during 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. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $259,071,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,293,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,586,107,000 after purchasing an additional 387,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $4.54 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $518.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 363,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,419,565. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $466.27. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $373.11 and a 1 year high of $527.54.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.68.

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.