Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 103 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,126 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 0.8% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 9.3% in the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank grew its stake in Mastercard by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 5,696 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,813,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 261.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 650 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,405 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 2,549 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.17.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’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 owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $521.50 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $501.55 and a 200 day moving average of $469.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $394.76 and a 52 week high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its 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. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. 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 14.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 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.