Quent Capital LLC Trims Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Quent Capital LLC 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 3,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.4% during the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 794 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the first quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the first quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 6,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $517.22.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of MA traded up $2.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $497.70. 1,935,893 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,457,305. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $359.77 and a twelve month high of $501.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $476.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $462.60. The stock has a market cap of $462.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.