Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Boosted by Munro Partners

Munro Partners increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 30.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 241,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 56,020 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 3.6% of Munro Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Munro Partners’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $137,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vulcan Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,233,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $130,902,000 after acquiring an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 396.3% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,343,000 after acquiring an additional 36,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,328,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on MA shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $490.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $499.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $523.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

About Mastercard

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.