B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 53,643 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its Mastercard stake by 23.1% in Q4, selling 53,643 shares and now holding 178,194 shares valued at about $102.12 million (≈0.9% of its portfolio, its 21st largest position).
• Mastercard beat expectations with Q4 EPS of $4.76 versus $4.24 estimated and revenue of $8.81 billion (up 17.5% YoY), and announced a $0.87 quarterly dividend (annualized $3.48, 0.7% yield).
• Analysts remain positive—the consensus rating is "Buy" with an average target of $659.81, and institutional investors own 97.28% of the stock.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,194 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 53,643 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.9% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Mastercard were worth $102,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $45,181,341,000 after acquiring an additional 955,533 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,885,944,000 after purchasing an additional 629,941 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,303,015,000 after purchasing an additional 235,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Mastercard by 6.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,658,547 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,218,638,000 after purchasing an additional 339,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3%

MA stock opened at $509.83 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $508.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $538.62. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $480.50 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $454.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.83.

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 company 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 firm's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $631.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $659.81.

About Mastercard

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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