Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Crystal Rock Capital Management

Crystal Rock Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,639 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 930 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 5.8% of Crystal Rock Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Crystal Rock Capital Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,580,909,000 after buying an additional 1,299,977 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 931,132 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:MA opened at $549.07 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $555.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $564.33. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $493.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. 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 of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $656.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa America raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.18.

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.