USS Investment Management Ltd Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 134,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $67,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,612,087,000 after buying an additional 466,514 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,444,231,000 after buying an additional 72,461,743 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,773,153,000 after acquiring an additional 349,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,256,368,000 after acquiring an additional 759,584 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.7%

MA opened at $513.24 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $496.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $519.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $453.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a PEG ratio of 1.59 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 return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.73 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.81.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched an Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in South Africa, a move that could deepen relationships with governments and financial institutions while reinforcing its role in digital security. Mastercard launches Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence
• Positive Sentiment: The company is working with quantum computing firm OQC to explore better fraud detection, which could help Mastercard combat the large and growing fraud problem in payments. Mastercard (MA) Stock Rises as It Taps Quantum Tech to Fight $343 Billion Fraud Problem
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst began coverage on Mastercard with a bullish view, adding to sentiment support for the stock. This Mastercard Analyst Begins Coverage On A Bullish Note; Here Are Top 5 Initiations For Tuesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted that 87% of Moroccan SMEs remain confident about their business outlook, which is supportive of regional economic activity but is not a direct financial catalyst. Mastercard: 87% of Moroccan SMEs Confident About Business Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that a Visa-Mastercard settlement could affect rewards credit cards may pressure investor sentiment if it raises concerns about future card economics or rewards-related revenue. Visa, Mastercard settlement might impact rewards credit cards

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.