Assetmark Inc. Has $130.90 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% in Q4 to 229,299 shares valued at approximately $130.9 million after buying 9,795 shares.
• Mastercard beat expectations with Q4 EPS of $4.76 (vs. $4.24 est.) and revenue of $8.81 billion, up 17.5% year‑over‑year, while posting a 45.65% net margin and a 203.92% return on equity.
• Management declared a quarterly dividend of $0.87 (annualized $3.48, yield 0.7%), and analysts hold a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $664.40.

Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 229,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,795 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $130,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 6.5% during the third quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $265,233,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 153.6% during the third quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $1,113,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its position in Mastercard by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $175,872,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 88.9% during the third quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 15,335 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $8,723,000 after acquiring an additional 7,215 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $508.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $453.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company's fifty day moving average price is $512.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $541.18. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $480.50 and a 52-week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is 21.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Compass Point raised shares of Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $631.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $664.40.

Mastercard Company 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.

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