National Pension Service Increases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,522,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,040 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 0.8% of National Pension Service’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. National Pension Service owned about 0.17% of Mastercard worth $801,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Mastercard by 14.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after buying an additional 241,297 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 830 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.4% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,260 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,792,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,080,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $532,886,000 after purchasing an additional 30,587 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 target price (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given 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 $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $564.68 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $540.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $515.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $514.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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.