Metropolis Capital Ltd Acquires 152,043 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Metropolis Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 47.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 470,562 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 152,043 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 8.6% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $268,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vulcan Value Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,233,000 after purchasing an additional 28,331 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 153.6% during the third quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $1,113,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its stake in 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 worth $175,872,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. grew its holdings in 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 during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Macquarie Infrastructure increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $664.40.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $493.55 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $516.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $544.30. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $440.15 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued 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 (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

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.