Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires 103,588 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1,833.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 109,239 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 103,588 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $63,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Vulcan Value Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,233,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $130,902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Mastercard by 396.3% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,343,000 after purchasing an additional 36,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,328,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MA opened at $490.47 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $433.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $499.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $523.09.

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