Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,059 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,395 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.7% of Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Mastercard by 861.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648,748 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $497,311,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Mastercard by 792.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,523 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $494,110,000 after purchasing an additional 768,514 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $501.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $499.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $522.78. The company has a market cap of $442.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The company’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.73 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. UBS Group cut their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.04.

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.