Bleakley Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Bleakley Financial Group increased its Mastercard stake by 10% in the fourth quarter, adding 2,662 shares to bring its total holdings to 29,411 shares valued at about $16.8 million.
• Mastercard continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with 97.28% of its stock owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors, and several other firms also raised their positions recently.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Mastercard: analysts have a consensus “Buy” rating with a $656 average price target, even though one recent rating downgrade was noted.

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,411 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,662 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Vulcan Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $265,233,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares in the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 153.6% in the third quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $130,902,000 after acquiring an additional 9,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longbow Finance SA raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.3% in the third quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 23,013 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $13,090,000 after acquiring an additional 7,704 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $656.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $498.24 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $480.50 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $440.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $501.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $529.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s long-term share-price surge and strong historical returns were highlighted again, reinforcing investor confidence in its durable business model and compounding earnings power. Mastercard's 12,000% surge proves value investing
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s renewed partnership with CIB, Egypt’s largest private-sector bank, suggests continued international expansion and deeper digital payments penetration in an important growth market. Mastercard and CIB Team to Boost Digital Payments in Egypt
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Mastercard’s BVNK deal is part of a larger stablecoin strategy point to a push into digital assets and next-generation payments, which could open new revenue opportunities if executed well. Mastercard BVNK Acquisition: Zerohash Dropped as $1.8B Stablecoin Bet Takes Shape
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles revisited Mastercard’s exceptional IPO-to-present gains and compared it with Visa, but these pieces were mostly commentary and did not change the fundamental outlook. Mastercard's stock is up 11,000% since its IPO 20 years ago. What comes next?

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.

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