Paladin Advisory Group LLC Sells 971 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Paladin Advisory Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 36.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 971 shares during the quarter. Paladin Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Robbins Farley increased its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 61 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.5%

MA opened at $549.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $493.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $555.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $564.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. HSBC upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure increased their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.18.

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.