AlphaQuest LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

AlphaQuest LLC cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 59.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,505 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.6% in the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% in the second quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.8% in the second quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total transaction of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $573.72 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $579.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $566.36. The firm has a market cap of $518.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.96.

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.