Aureus Asset Management LLC Sells 80 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Aureus Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,107 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,308,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,115,228,000 after acquiring an additional 64,456 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,241,297,000 after acquiring an additional 71,569 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $532.94 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $404.32 and a 52-week high of $535.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $476.43. The company has a market capitalization of $489.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.31, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

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.