Value Partners Investments Inc. Has $31.92 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Value Partners Investments sharply increased its stake in Mastercard by 1,022.4% in the first quarter, ending with 63,833 shares worth about $31.92 million. Mastercard now makes up roughly 2.4% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Mastercard reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, posting EPS of $4.60 versus $4.41 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion versus $8.26 billion projected. Revenue rose 15.8% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, payable August 7 to shareholders of record on July 9, representing a 0.7% annualized yield. Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus Buy rating and average price target of $656.08.

Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1,022.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,833 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 58,146 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 2.4% of Value Partners Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Value Partners Investments Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $31,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $130,902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 396.3% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,343,000 after buying an additional 36,848 shares in the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $1,328,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 65,414 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,344,000 after buying an additional 3,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:MA opened at $499.71 on Friday. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $496.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $519.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $441.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to attract investor interest as a trending stock, which can support shares by keeping attention on the company’s earnings and growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted new travel-focused offerings, including its “Priceless Africa” experience, reinforcing its strategy to deepen consumer engagement and build higher-value travel spending across its network. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and MarginEdge launched a commercial charge card for restaurants, a small but potentially useful expansion of Mastercard’s commercial payments footprint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary continues to frame Mastercard as a premium payments company tied to international expansion, but some articles also argue the stock remains expensive and has lagged over longer periods, which could temper enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional pieces focused on broad “what to know” coverage and consumer trends, but did not report a major new catalyst that would materially change Mastercard’s near-term fundamentals. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MA shares. Tigress Financial increased their price objective 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. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $656.08.

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.

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.