Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. Reduces Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,699 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 5.0% of Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taurus Asset Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth approximately $1,506,000. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 8,144 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,021,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.5% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 41,799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,641,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, S&CO Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 10,011 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $521.89 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $504.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.38. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $395.55 and a 52-week high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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