Milestone Resources Group Ltd Sells 181,192 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Milestone Resources Group Ltd decreased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 98.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,790 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 181,192 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.1% of Milestone Resources Group Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Milestone Resources Group Ltd's holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter worth $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $559.28.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MA traded down $3.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $529.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,608,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,454,107. The company has a market cap of $485.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $411.60 and a 52 week high of $536.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $517.23 and a 200 day moving average of $481.15.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.