Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stock Holdings Boosted by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,965,782 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 1.3% of Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.63% of Mastercard worth $2,846,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MA. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $3.98 during trading on Monday, reaching $524.84. The company had a trading volume of 349,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,449,782. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $506.91 and its 200-day moving average is $473.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $404.32 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $481.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Mastercard Profile

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.