Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 77.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,293 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 177,278 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $29,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dash Acquisitions Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 49,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,227,000 after buying an additional 2,299 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Mastercard by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 164,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $93,958,000 after buying an additional 31,664 shares during the period. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,701,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 2,498 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 12,406 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,082,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.3%

Mastercard stock opened at $505.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $480.50 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $446.55 billion, a PE ratio of 29.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $502.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $530.89.

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, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $3.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.00.

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.