Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 10,226 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,088,084 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 10,226 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 3.7% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $537,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $520.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $478.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $404.32 and a 1 year high of $534.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $506.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $473.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MA. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Argus raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

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.