Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by First County Bank CT

First County Bank CT trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,696 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 48.6% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Argus raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $515.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $506.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $473.05. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $404.32 and a 12-month high of $534.03. The firm has a market cap of $472.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.