Plato Investment Management Ltd Acquires 1,944 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,966 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.8% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $11,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. HSBC upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $609.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $739.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.18.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $549.07 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $493.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $555.27 and a 200-day moving average of $564.31. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.07%.

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.