Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,341,061 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 74,905 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 4.1% of ING Groep NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. ING Groep NV owned approximately 0.15% of Mastercard worth $762,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Curio Wealth LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 22,400.0% during the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 153.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $175,872,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 15,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,723,000 after buying an additional 7,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3,694.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 9,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,288,000 after acquiring an additional 9,052 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE MA opened at $540.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $485.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $555.00 and its 200 day moving average is $563.93.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. HSBC upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Compass Point raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.27.

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.