Impax Asset Management Group plc Purchases 26,713 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 345,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,713 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 1.1% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $196,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Mastercard by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,580,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,098,695,000 after acquiring an additional 931,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after purchasing an additional 542,841 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $540.36 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $555.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $563.93. The firm has a market cap of $485.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Compass Point raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Macquarie Infrastructure increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $669.27.

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.