Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $4.19 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,452 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Mastercard by 213.2% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 8,456 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,607,000 after buying an additional 5,756 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.9% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 41,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,865,000 after buying an additional 2,676 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 96.8% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 593,789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $253,144,000 after acquiring an additional 292,064 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report 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 report on Tuesday. Compass Point initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total value of $62,540,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,762,504,462.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’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 $8,440,885.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total value of $62,540,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,762,504,462.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 605,124 shares of company stock worth $280,045,189. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $492.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $457.96 billion, a PE ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $359.77 and a one year high of $501.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $466.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $461.15.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company 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 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

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.