Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,781 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $97,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after buying an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $566.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $519.51 billion, a PE ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $533.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $508.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.