Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Has $25.67 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 45,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,745 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.8% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $25,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 931,132 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 542,841 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 13,397,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,725,317,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $535.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $480.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $555.10 and its 200 day moving average is $564.13. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 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.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MA. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore set a $610.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 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.