IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 4,384 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,384 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.7% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $84,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. XXEC Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 478.9% during the first quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 104,321 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $57,784,000 after purchasing an additional 86,299 shares during the period. Severin Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Key Financial Inc grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 1,592 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial increased its stake in Mastercard by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched an Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in South Africa, a move that could deepen relationships with governments and financial institutions while reinforcing its role in digital security. Mastercard launches Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence
• Positive Sentiment: The company is working with quantum computing firm OQC to explore better fraud detection, which could help Mastercard combat the large and growing fraud problem in payments. Mastercard (MA) Stock Rises as It Taps Quantum Tech to Fight $343 Billion Fraud Problem
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst began coverage on Mastercard with a bullish view, adding to sentiment support for the stock. This Mastercard Analyst Begins Coverage On A Bullish Note; Here Are Top 5 Initiations For Tuesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted that 87% of Moroccan SMEs remain confident about their business outlook, which is supportive of regional economic activity but is not a direct financial catalyst. Mastercard: 87% of Moroccan SMEs Confident About Business Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that a Visa-Mastercard settlement could affect rewards credit cards may pressure investor sentiment if it raises concerns about future card economics or rewards-related revenue. Visa, Mastercard settlement might impact rewards credit cards

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.81.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $513.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $496.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $519.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $453.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

About Mastercard

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.