Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Raises Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Mastercard (MA) by 0.3% in Q4, adding 3,654 shares to hold 1,086,260 shares (about 0.12% of Mastercard) valued at $620.239 million, making MA its 13th largest holding.
• Mastercard beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $4.76 vs. $4.24 and revenue of $8.81 billion (up 17.5% YoY), reporting a 45.65% net margin and very strong return on equity.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 (annualized $3.48, yield 0.7%, ex-dividend Apr 9) and carries a consensus "Buy" rating from analysts with an average price target of $659.81.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,086,260 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.0% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.12% of Mastercard worth $620,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Vulcan Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $265,233,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 153.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $175,872,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $130,902,000 after buying an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.1%

Mastercard stock opened at $511.16 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $480.50 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $508.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $538.83. The company has a market capitalization of $455.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Evercore restated a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $659.81.

Mastercard Company 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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