United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd cut its Mastercard stake by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,580 shares and leaving it with 147,067 shares valued at about $83.96 million.
• Despite that sale, institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 97.28% of Mastercard’s shares. Several large firms, including Vanguard, State Street, and Geode Capital Management, also increased their positions.
• Mastercard posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates with $4.60 EPS and $8.40 billion in revenue, while analysts broadly remain bullish with a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $656.04.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund lowered its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,067 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 18,580 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 1.2% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings in Mastercard were worth $83,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $45,612,087,000 after buying an additional 466,514 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,773,153,000 after buying an additional 349,369 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,885,944,000 after buying an additional 629,941 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,303,015,000 after buying an additional 235,403 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard received a New York BitLicense, strengthening its ability to pursue regulated digital asset, stablecoin, and blockchain payment initiatives. Mastercard Granted New York State Department of Financial Services BitLicense
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and commentary pieces highlighted Mastercard as a potential beneficiary of inflation and currency debasement trends, pointing to its high-margin payments model and durable global network. Mastercard: The Perfect Hedge Against Currency Debasement And Inflation
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s upcoming conference appearances keep management visible to investors, but these events are unlikely to move the stock on their own. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also presented at Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference, which may offer strategic updates but does not appear to include a major new catalyst. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Presents at Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference Transcript

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Loop Capital started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $631.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $493.76 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $480.50 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The stock's 50-day moving average is $501.11 and its 200 day moving average is $527.80. The company has a market cap of $436.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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