Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $23.67 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,925 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 523 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $23,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP raised its position in Mastercard by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 794 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 6,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,314,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target for the company. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $517.22.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $494.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $460.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $475.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $462.47. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $359.77 and a fifty-two week high of $501.80.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

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.