Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Lessened by Alta Capital Management LLC

Alta Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,432 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 13,618 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 3.2% of Alta Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $47,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% in the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MA. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.00.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.3%

Mastercard stock opened at $505.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $446.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $480.50 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $502.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $530.89.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.73 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.