Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Metropolis Capital Ltd

Metropolis Capital Ltd lessened its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 318,519 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 24,487 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 5.7% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $181,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $577.89 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $518.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $555.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $657.48.

About Mastercard

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.