Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 139,851 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,151 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Mastercard were worth $69,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 23.0% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 359,079 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $177,313,000 after buying an additional 106,963 shares during the period. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 5,549 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,370 shares of company stock worth $46,797,168 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Compass Point initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $525.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $521.89 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $504.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $395.55 and a 1 year high of $534.03. The firm has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

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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