Ayrshire Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,049 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 3.1% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,098,695,000 after acquiring an additional 931,132 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $11,421,213,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $6,725,317,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $577.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $555.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.53. The stock has a market cap of $518.44 billion, a PE ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.48.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.