Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $41.45 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 105,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,260 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $41,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MA. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 869 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. New World Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 3,409 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 74.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $443.00 to $439.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $496.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 15th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $441.00 to $432.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $450.09.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.8 %

Mastercard stock opened at $400.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.40 billion, a PE ratio of 34.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $336.43 and a twelve month high of $418.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $395.21 and a 200-day moving average of $391.43.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The credit services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.85% and a return on equity of 188.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 9th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 5th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, Director Richard K. Davis purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $390.96 per share, with a total value of $390,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,123.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.12, for a total value of $49,083,337.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,795,141 shares in the company, valued at $38,151,840,406.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard K. Davis purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $390.96 per share, for a total transaction of $390,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,123.28. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 533,424 shares of company stock valued at $206,051,295 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.