BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,657 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $114,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $784,148,000 after buying an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $259,071,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,043,557 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $460,376,000 after buying an additional 363,133 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $512.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $505.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $470.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.77, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $404.32 and a 12-month high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. Mastercard's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Company 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.

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