Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 125,571 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,375 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.5% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $71,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Rialto Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 13.0% during the second quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Robbins Farley increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 1,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the third quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,091 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MA shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $656.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.27.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $522.43 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $465.91 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $543.94 and a 200-day moving average of $558.90.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.07%.

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.