Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 188,716 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 34,083 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.6% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $106,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Palogic Value Management L.P. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 6.2% during the second quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 549 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden lifted its stake in Mastercard by 12.7% during the second quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 455,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $256,175,000 after purchasing an additional 51,485 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.9% during the second quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,884 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its stake in Mastercard by 132.5% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 158,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,843,000 after purchasing an additional 90,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.0% during the second quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 17,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,003,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday. Compass Point set a $620.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $647.89.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MA stock opened at $552.59 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $576.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $499.54 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.