Mariner Investment Group LLC Acquires New Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Mariner Investment Group opened a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter, buying 100,000 shares valued at about $57.1 million. The stake represents roughly 3.3% of Mariner’s portfolio and is its 14th largest holding.
• Mastercard continues to attract heavy institutional ownership, with 97.28% of shares held by institutions. Several other funds also recently increased their holdings in the payments company.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating analyst expectations on earnings and revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share. Analysts currently have a consensus rating of Buy with a price target of $656.04.

Mariner Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 100,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $57,088,000. Mastercard accounts for about 3.3% of Mariner Investment Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% during the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:MA opened at $490.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $498.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $521.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 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, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $656.04.

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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