Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Fullerton Fund Management boosted its Mastercard stake by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,395 additional shares and bringing its total to 28,059 shares worth about $16.0 million.
• Mastercard continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with 97.28% of shares held by institutions and hedge funds. Several other firms also added to or initiated positions in the stock during the quarter.
• The company reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $4.60 versus estimates of $4.41 and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 15.8% year over year. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $656.04.

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 29.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,059 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,395 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 0.7% of Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 787,538 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $449,582,000 after acquiring an additional 17,066 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 19,493 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,128,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Elefante Mark B grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Elefante Mark B now owns 12,284 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,013,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Militia Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,028,000. Finally, Camrose Capital Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,636,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Evercore reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Six 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.1%

MA stock opened at $501.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $442.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $499.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $522.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 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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