BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 60,327 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 21.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 227,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 60,327 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 0.7% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $112,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $35,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas lowered Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $532.93 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $404.32 and a 52-week high of $535.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $476.15. The company has a market capitalization of $489.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.31, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. 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.