Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 364,052 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,657 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 0.7% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $207,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Robbins Farley increased its position in Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc raised its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $667.88.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.8%

MA stock opened at $492.79 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $439.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $519.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $546.90.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.