Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Lowered by Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. decreased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,880 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,996 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 5.2% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $87,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the second quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 2,984 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 53.1% in the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $739.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Macquarie Infrastructure raised their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.27.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $515.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $545.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $559.56. The company has a market cap of $460.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.07%.

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.