Swedbank AB Purchases 31,347 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,052,008 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 31,347 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.2% of Swedbank AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Swedbank AB owned 0.23% of Mastercard worth $1,167,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MA. Cushing Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $896,000. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,212 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its position in Mastercard by 5.2% during the third quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 6,504 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,700,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Mastercard by 3.9% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 166,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $94,186,000 after buying an additional 6,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 0.4% in the third quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,761 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,708,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $576.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $517.86 billion, a PE ratio of 36.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $554.34 and a 200-day moving average of $565.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Macquarie increased their price objective on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.48.

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.