MetLife Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 252,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,223 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.7% of MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $124,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,831,000 after acquiring an additional 2,601 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,538 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,651 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 4,992 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.0% during the third quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 115,002 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $56,788,000 after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Street Partners LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 12.4% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,601 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.2 %

MA opened at $527.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $483.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $404.32 and a 12-month high of $534.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $508.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $474.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS 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 issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s 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 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. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Citigroup upped their price objective on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Argus raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

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.