PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Acquires New Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators initiated a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter, buying 35,614 shares valued at about $20.3 million. Mastercard now represents roughly 0.7% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Other institutional investors also added to Mastercard, and the filing notes that 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions, underscoring strong institutional interest in the company.
• Mastercard reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $4.60 beating estimates and revenue of $8.40 billion topping expectations, while analysts still largely rate the stock a Buy with a consensus price target of $656.04.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 35,614 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,331,000. Mastercard accounts for about 0.7% of PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators' investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc increased its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC increased its stake 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s CEO said spending growth has been holding up across all income bands, suggesting consumers remain resilient despite higher gas and food prices. That supports the outlook for payment volume and transaction growth. Mastercard CEO: Spending growth has been happening across all income bands
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its open finance ecosystem through a partnership with PaidBy, adding cross-border open banking payments, local-currency account-to-account transactions, and faster settlement. Can Mastercard Strengthen Its Open Finance Ecosystem With PaidBy?
• Positive Sentiment: News that Mastercard is adding stablecoins and broader settlement windows points to continued innovation in payments infrastructure, which could help the company capture more transaction flows and improve settlement efficiency. Mastercard adds stablecoins to payment settlement system
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s leadership shake-up and AI-focused initiatives suggest management is trying to accelerate fintech growth and modernize the business, which investors may view as supportive of long-term expansion. Mastercard Leadership Shake-Up to Drive Fintech Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to highlight Mastercard’s strong value-added services and high-return business model, but this is more of a long-term valuation argument than a direct near-term catalyst. Mastercard: Advanced DuPont Analysis Reveals Value-Added Services Are Built To Skyrocket The Share Price
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard transactions in Cuba are set to be suspended, a reminder that geopolitical and sanctions-related issues can still disrupt some transaction volumes, though the financial impact is likely limited. Visa, Mastercard transactions in Cuba to be suspended, central bank says

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $491.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $499.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $525.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $434.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $464.52 and a 52-week high of $601.77.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Six equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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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