Norges Bank Purchases New Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Mastercard, buying 11.7 million shares worth about $6.7 billion. The position made Mastercard about 0.7% of its portfolio and its 15th-largest holding.
• Institutional ownership of Mastercard remains very high, with the article noting that 97.28% of shares are held by institutions and hedge funds. Several other investors also added to their positions during the quarter.
• Mastercard’s recent operating results were strong, with Q1 earnings of $4.60 per share beating estimates and revenue rising 15.8% year over year to $8.40 billion. Analysts remain generally bullish, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of about $656.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,746,265 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,705,708,000. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.7% of Norges Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Norges Bank owned about 1.31% of Mastercard as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Madison Wealth Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 735 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 13,742 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,845,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 6,826 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $770,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,755,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s BitLicense approval strengthens its ability to build regulated digital asset, stablecoin, and blockchain-based payment infrastructure, which investors may see as a long-term growth opportunity. Mastercard BitLicense Approval Opens New Chapter In Digital Assets And Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage suggesting Mastercard is well positioned in the stablecoin battle, alongside peers like SoFi, Block, and Robinhood, highlights the company’s relevance in a fast-growing payments trend. How Mastercard, SoFi, Block are heating up the stablecoin battle
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat on Mastercard despite recent relative underperformance versus fintech peers, suggesting Wall Street still sees upside in the stock’s fundamentals and franchise strength. How Is Mastercard's Stock Performance Compared to Other FinTech Stocks?
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent valuation-focused commentary notes Mastercard has pulled back from recent highs and trades at a premium multiple, which may keep some investors cautious even as the long-term outlook remains constructive. Mastercard (MA) Valuation Check After Recent Pullback And Premium P/E Multiple
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also announced upcoming investor conference appearances, which is routine corporate communication rather than a major operating update. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $631.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $494.45 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $501.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $527.57. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $480.50 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $436.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Company 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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