BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Purchases New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 250,750 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $131,780,000. Mastercard comprises about 3.6% of BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments' portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whalerock Point Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,729,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $635.00 target price (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $606.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded down $1.23 on Tuesday, reaching $559.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,340,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,607,705. The company has a market capitalization of $510.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.31, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $532.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $532.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.76 dividend. 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 21.32%.

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.