Candriam S.C.A. Sells 12,676 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Candriam S.C.A. cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 431,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,676 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.3% of Candriam S.C.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $245,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 55,868.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MA. Daiwa America upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $739.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.18.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MA stock opened at $549.07 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $555.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $564.33. The company has a market cap of $493.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.07%.

Mastercard 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.