Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,311 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.2% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $28,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Compass Point set a $620.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Macquarie boosted their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $654.81.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $564.92 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $553.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $507.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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