Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 25,451 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 22.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 90,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 25,451 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $44,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after buying an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after buying an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,850,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $524.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $513.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $478.04. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $407.15 and a 12-month high of $535.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. 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 currently 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Mizuho upped their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.