National Pension Service Purchases 107,831 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Mastercard stake by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 107,831 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,682,172 shares worth about $960.3 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 97.28% of Mastercard shares after several other firms also added to or initiated positions.
• Mastercard reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates with $4.60 EPS on $8.40 billion in revenue, while analysts still rate the stock a consensus “Buy” with a $656.04 price target.

National Pension Service lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,682,172 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 107,831 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.7% of National Pension Service's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. National Pension Service owned about 0.19% of Mastercard worth $960,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MA. South Street Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 13,534 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,726,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $255,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $106,000. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 17,905 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $10,222,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,706,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard received a New York BitLicense, strengthening its ability to pursue regulated digital asset, stablecoin, and blockchain payment initiatives. Mastercard Granted New York State Department of Financial Services BitLicense
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and commentary pieces highlighted Mastercard as a potential beneficiary of inflation and currency debasement trends, pointing to its high-margin payments model and durable global network. Mastercard: The Perfect Hedge Against Currency Debasement And Inflation
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s upcoming conference appearances keep management visible to investors, but these events are unlikely to move the stock on their own. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also presented at Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference, which may offer strategic updates but does not appear to include a major new catalyst. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Presents at Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference Transcript

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $493.76 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $480.50 and a one year high of $601.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $501.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $527.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $436.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $656.04.

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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