ING Groep NV Has $762.81 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

ING Groep NV cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,341,061 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 74,905 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 4.1% of ING Groep NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $762,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 45.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 61 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.9%

MA opened at $540.36 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $555.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $563.93. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $485.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. 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 is presently 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Compass Point upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.27.

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.