Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Holdings Boosted by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 51.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 1.3% of Bank of Montreal Can's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.63% of Mastercard worth $2,846,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. Argus raised Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas downgraded Mastercard from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $470.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $549.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $5.74 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $526.60. The stock had a trading volume of 4,503,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,467,999. The business's fifty day moving average is $507.49 and its 200-day moving average is $474.33. 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 has a market cap of $483.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $404.32 and a 1-year high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.