Hilltop Partners LLC Acquires 1,412 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Hilltop Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,826 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.0% of Hilltop Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Hilltop Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,612,087,000 after acquiring an additional 466,514 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,773,153,000 after acquiring an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,885,944,000 after acquiring an additional 629,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,303,015,000 after acquiring an additional 235,403 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $494.45 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $501.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $527.57. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $480.50 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $436.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s BitLicense approval strengthens its ability to build regulated digital asset, stablecoin, and blockchain-based payment infrastructure, which investors may see as a long-term growth opportunity. Mastercard BitLicense Approval Opens New Chapter In Digital Assets And Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage suggesting Mastercard is well positioned in the stablecoin battle, alongside peers like SoFi, Block, and Robinhood, highlights the company’s relevance in a fast-growing payments trend. How Mastercard, SoFi, Block are heating up the stablecoin battle
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat on Mastercard despite recent relative underperformance versus fintech peers, suggesting Wall Street still sees upside in the stock’s fundamentals and franchise strength. How Is Mastercard’s Stock Performance Compared to Other FinTech Stocks?
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent valuation-focused commentary notes Mastercard has pulled back from recent highs and trades at a premium multiple, which may keep some investors cautious even as the long-term outlook remains constructive. Mastercard (MA) Valuation Check After Recent Pullback And Premium P/E Multiple
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also announced upcoming investor conference appearances, which is routine corporate communication rather than a major operating update. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences

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.