Liberty Capital Management Inc. Has $1.98 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after buying an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $259,071,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,293,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,586,107,000 after buying an additional 387,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,043,557 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $460,376,000 after buying an additional 363,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $513.02 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $359.77 and a 1-year high of $518.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $489.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $464.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $476.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Mastercard from $570.00 to $593.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.68.

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.