Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Barings LLC

Barings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position in Mastercard by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 31,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $16,395,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,532,541,000 after purchasing an additional 565,717 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $546.98 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $545.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $520.77. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market cap of $498.68 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.