National Bank of Canada FI Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 870,733 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 44,935 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.10% of Mastercard worth $489,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.6% during the second quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Nvest Financial LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.2% during the second quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 5.6% during the second quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $571.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $513.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $554.16 and its 200 day moving average is $566.39. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $654.81.

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.