Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Raises Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 169,325 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.8% of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $96,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,612,087,000 after purchasing an additional 466,514 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,773,153,000 after buying an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,885,944,000 after buying an additional 629,941 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,303,015,000 after buying an additional 235,403 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.04.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard received a New York BitLicense, strengthening its ability to pursue regulated digital asset, stablecoin, and blockchain payment initiatives. Mastercard Granted New York State Department of Financial Services BitLicense
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and commentary pieces highlighted Mastercard as a potential beneficiary of inflation and currency debasement trends, pointing to its high-margin payments model and durable global network. Mastercard: The Perfect Hedge Against Currency Debasement And Inflation
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s upcoming conference appearances keep management visible to investors, but these events are unlikely to move the stock on their own. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also presented at Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference, which may offer strategic updates but does not appear to include a major new catalyst. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Presents at Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference Transcript

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $493.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $527.80. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $480.50 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $436.28 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.73 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard 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.