Capital Counsel LLC NY Decreases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Capital Counsel LLC NY lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,419 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 0.1% of Capital Counsel LLC NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Capital Counsel LLC NY’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,120,000 after purchasing an additional 4,685 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $391,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $608,000. XML Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.5% in the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its stake in Mastercard by 2.6% during the first quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 2,069 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $528.48 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $404.32 and a 1 year high of $534.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $508.03 and a 200 day moving average of $474.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $485.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

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.