Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $746.47 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 54.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,362,081 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 481,605 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.8% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.15% of Mastercard worth $746,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $40,640,219,000 after purchasing an additional 377,302 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,725,627,000 after purchasing an additional 912,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,800,202,000 after purchasing an additional 282,739 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.90.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:MA traded down $3.09 on Friday, hitting $552.52. 2,579,579 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,663,399. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $594.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $567.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $548.44. The company has a market cap of $503.74 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 196.87% and a net margin of 45.21%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.