Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,542,577 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 65,860 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.8% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $770,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Mastercard by 820.0% during 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. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% during the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of MA opened at $499.71 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $496.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $519.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $441.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MA. Truist Financial cut their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings cut Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.08.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to attract investor interest as a trending stock, which can support shares by keeping attention on the company’s earnings and growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted new travel-focused offerings, including its “Priceless Africa” experience, reinforcing its strategy to deepen consumer engagement and build higher-value travel spending across its network. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and MarginEdge launched a commercial charge card for restaurants, a small but potentially useful expansion of Mastercard’s commercial payments footprint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary continues to frame Mastercard as a premium payments company tied to international expansion, but some articles also argue the stock remains expensive and has lagged over longer periods, which could temper enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional pieces focused on broad “what to know” coverage and consumer trends, but did not report a major new catalyst that would materially change Mastercard’s near-term fundamentals. Article Title

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.