Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $130.20 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 228,070 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,280 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 1.1% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $130,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 250.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s CEO said spending growth has been holding up across all income bands, suggesting consumers remain resilient despite higher gas and food prices. That supports the outlook for payment volume and transaction growth. Mastercard CEO: Spending growth has been happening across all income bands
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its open finance ecosystem through a partnership with PaidBy, adding cross-border open banking payments, local-currency account-to-account transactions, and faster settlement. Can Mastercard Strengthen Its Open Finance Ecosystem With PaidBy?
• Positive Sentiment: News that Mastercard is adding stablecoins and broader settlement windows points to continued innovation in payments infrastructure, which could help the company capture more transaction flows and improve settlement efficiency. Mastercard adds stablecoins to payment settlement system
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s leadership shake-up and AI-focused initiatives suggest management is trying to accelerate fintech growth and modernize the business, which investors may view as supportive of long-term expansion. Mastercard Leadership Shake-Up to Drive Fintech Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to highlight Mastercard’s strong value-added services and high-return business model, but this is more of a long-term valuation argument than a direct near-term catalyst. Mastercard: Advanced DuPont Analysis Reveals Value-Added Services Are Built To Skyrocket The Share Price
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard transactions in Cuba are set to be suspended, a reminder that geopolitical and sanctions-related issues can still disrupt some transaction volumes, though the financial impact is likely limited. Visa, Mastercard transactions in Cuba to be suspended, central bank says

Mastercard Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:MA opened at $491.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.43 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $499.81 and its 200 day moving average is $525.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.04.

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.