Value Partners Investments Inc. Acquires 58,146 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1,022.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 63,833 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 58,146 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 2.4% of Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $31,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 54.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $499.71 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $496.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $519.84. The stock has a market cap of $441.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year 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 business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

More Mastercard News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.08.

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.