Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Mastercard by 6.2% in Q4, selling 6,021 shares and retaining 90,593 shares worth $48.17 million (about 0.5% of its portfolio and its 17th largest position).
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive view with a consensus Buy rating and a consensus price target of $664.40, despite mixed individual target changes and ratings.
• Mastercard reported strong quarterly results—EPS of $4.76 topped estimates and revenue rose 17.5%—and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 (annualized $3.48, yield 0.7%; ex-dividend April 9, payable May 8).

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,593 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 6,021 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.5% of Yousif Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $48,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Robbins Farley lifted its position in Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 250.0% during the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its position in Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore reiterated a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $739.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure lifted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $664.40.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $498.27 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $515.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $543.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $470.00 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $444.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 21.07%.

Mastercard 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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