USS Investment Management Ltd Buys 1,958 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd increased its Mastercard stake by 1.5% in the first quarter, buying 1,958 shares and bringing its total holdings to 134,989 shares valued at about $67.5 million.
• Other institutional investors also adjusted their positions, and 97.28% of Mastercard shares are held by institutions, underscoring heavy professional ownership of the stock.
• Mastercard posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.60 beating estimates and revenue of $8.40 billion topping forecasts; analysts currently have a Buy consensus with an average price target of $653.81.

USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,989 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,958 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Mastercard were worth $67,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Betterment LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $380,548,000 after purchasing an additional 178,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $431,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings cut Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 target price on the stock. Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $653.81.

Mastercard Stock Performance

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

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.73 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 20.14%.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

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

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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