Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stake Trimmed by Chiron Investment Management LLC

Chiron Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 74.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,908 shares during the period. Chiron Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 12.2% in the third quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 1,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,457 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,662,000 after acquiring an additional 4,482 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD boosted its position in Mastercard by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 3,683 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 9,357 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,621,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target for the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.28.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $529.16 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $411.60 and a 12-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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $514.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $479.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $485.68 billion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company 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.