Holocene Advisors LP Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Holocene Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 394,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 73,157 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $221,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after acquiring an additional 931,132 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after purchasing an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MA shares. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 price target on Mastercard in a report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.81.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $571.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company has a market cap of $513.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $554.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $566.44. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.25%.

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.