Mastercard Incorporated $MA is Metropolis Capital Ltd's 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Metropolis Capital Ltd boosted its Mastercard stake by 47.7% in Q4 to 470,562 shares (about 8.6% of the fund's holdings), a position valued at roughly $268.6 million and its 4th largest holding.
• Mastercard beat expectations with Q4 EPS of $4.76 (consensus $4.24) and revenue of $8.81 billion, up 17.5% year-over-year, while reporting a net margin of 45.65% and ROE of 203.92%.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating on MA with an average target price of $664.40, and recent price targets from firms range roughly from about $610 to $735.

Metropolis Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 47.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 470,562 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 152,043 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 8.6% of Metropolis Capital Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Metropolis Capital Ltd owned approximately 0.05% of Mastercard worth $268,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 11,023 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,297,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 2,943 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,680,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,446,000. Leo Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 350.6% in the 4th quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 9,706 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,576,000 after purchasing an additional 7,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 595 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Compass Point upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure increased their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $664.40.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $493.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $440.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $516.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $544.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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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