Munro Partners Buys Shares of 200,344 Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Munro Partners purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 200,344 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $112,581,000. Mastercard comprises 3.5% of Munro Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after acquiring an additional 931,132 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,062,509,000 after purchasing an additional 542,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of MA opened at $571.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $513.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $554.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $566.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.81.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.