Voya Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 130 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Voya Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Voya Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in Mastercard by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 9,911 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Accel Wealth Management bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $254,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,434 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $457,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $524.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $513.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $478.04. 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 one year low of $407.15 and a one year high of $535.77. The firm has a market cap of $481.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS 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 paid 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

About Mastercard

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.