Bridgewater Associates LP Has $26.59 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 85.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,837 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 304,472 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $26,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the third 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 increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,854,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $532.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $488.46 billion, a PE ratio of 40.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $508.78 and a 200-day moving average of $475.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $404.32 and a 52-week high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. 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 Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased 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. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

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.