Ketron Financial Buys Shares of 4,952 Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Ketron Financial opened a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter, buying 4,952 shares worth about $2.83 million. Mastercard now ranks as the firm’s 13th largest holding and accounts for roughly 0.9% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership in Mastercard remains extremely high at 97.28%, with major holders like Vanguard, State Street, and Geode Capital also increasing positions. This suggests continued strong interest from large investors.
• Mastercard beat quarterly expectations, reporting $4.60 EPS on $8.40 billion in revenue, while analysts currently rate the stock a Buy on average with a consensus price target of $656.04.

Ketron Financial bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,952 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,827,000. Mastercard makes up about 0.9% of Ketron Financial's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $45,612,087,000 after buying an additional 466,514 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after acquiring an additional 72,461,743 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,773,153,000 after acquiring an additional 349,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $10,256,368,000 after purchasing an additional 759,584 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $490.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $498.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $521.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.14%.

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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