Peregrine Capital Management LLC Has $45.89 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Peregrine Capital Management reduced its Mastercard stake by 6.2% in the first quarter, but still held 91,837 shares valued at about $45.89 million. Mastercard remained a meaningful position, making up roughly 1.7% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with analysts giving Mastercard an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $653.81. Recent ratings were mixed, though, including a downgrade from Weiss Ratings and a negative call from Evercore.
• Mastercard reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.60 versus the $4.41 estimate and revenue of $8.40 billion versus $8.26 billion expected. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, implying a 0.7% yield.

Peregrine Capital Management LLC cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,837 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 6,044 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 1.7% of Peregrine Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Peregrine Capital Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $45,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its position in Mastercard by 820.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 250.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Evercore restated a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $653.81.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of MA opened at $513.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $453.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $496.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $519.34.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter last year, the business earned $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.14%.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched an Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in South Africa, a move that could deepen relationships with governments and financial institutions while reinforcing its role in digital security. Mastercard launches Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence
• Positive Sentiment: The company is working with quantum computing firm OQC to explore better fraud detection, which could help Mastercard combat the large and growing fraud problem in payments. Mastercard (MA) Stock Rises as It Taps Quantum Tech to Fight $343 Billion Fraud Problem
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst began coverage on Mastercard with a bullish view, adding to sentiment support for the stock. This Mastercard Analyst Begins Coverage On A Bullish Note; Here Are Top 5 Initiations For Tuesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted that 87% of Moroccan SMEs remain confident about their business outlook, which is supportive of regional economic activity but is not a direct financial catalyst. Mastercard: 87% of Moroccan SMEs Confident About Business Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that a Visa-Mastercard settlement could affect rewards credit cards may pressure investor sentiment if it raises concerns about future card economics or rewards-related revenue. Visa, Mastercard settlement might impact rewards credit cards

About Mastercard

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.

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.