Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $44.80 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its Mastercard stake by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, adding 10,325 shares to reach 78,478 shares valued at about $44.8 million.
• Mastercard continues to draw strong institutional interest, with hedge funds and other large investors owning 97.28% of the company’s stock.
• The stock has a Buy consensus from analysts, while Mastercard also beat quarterly earnings expectations and raised its dividend to $0.87 per share quarterly.

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,478 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,325 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $44,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Six research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $490.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $433.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $498.76 and a 200-day moving average of $521.76.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.