Global Trust Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Global Trust Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 1.9% of Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after purchasing an additional 955,533 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Mastercard by 792.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,523 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $494,110,000 after purchasing an additional 768,514 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,885,944,000 after purchasing an additional 629,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $245,980,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $631.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $739.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $664.40.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $493.55 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $516.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $544.97. The firm has a market cap of $440.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 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.