Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $42.94 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,953 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,103 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.1% of Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $42,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. Diversified LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 8.4% during the third quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 773 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Mastercard by 9.4% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 866,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $427,920,000 after buying an additional 74,161 shares during the last quarter. Boston Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 18.5% during the third quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $526.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $483.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $404.32 and a twelve month high of $534.03. 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 50 day moving average price is $507.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $474.33.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

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.