Metropolis Capital Ltd Purchases 111,475 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its Mastercard stake by 23.7% in Q1, buying 111,475 shares and bringing its holdings to 582,037 shares worth about $290.8 million.
• Mastercard reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.60 versus $4.41 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 15.8% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, payable August 7, which works out to an annualized payout of $3.48 and a yield of 0.7%.

Metropolis Capital Ltd raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 23.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 582,037 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 111,475 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 9.9% of Metropolis Capital Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Metropolis Capital Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Mastercard worth $290,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 250.0% during the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $499.71 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $441.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $496.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $519.84. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS 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 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $656.08.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to attract investor interest as a trending stock, which can support shares by keeping attention on the company’s earnings and growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted new travel-focused offerings, including its “Priceless Africa” experience, reinforcing its strategy to deepen consumer engagement and build higher-value travel spending across its network. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and MarginEdge launched a commercial charge card for restaurants, a small but potentially useful expansion of Mastercard’s commercial payments footprint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary continues to frame Mastercard as a premium payments company tied to international expansion, but some articles also argue the stock remains expensive and has lagged over longer periods, which could temper enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional pieces focused on broad “what to know” coverage and consumer trends, but did not report a major new catalyst that would materially change Mastercard’s near-term fundamentals. Article Title

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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