BlueSpruce Investments LP Cuts Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

BlueSpruce Investments LP decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 586,782 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 149,985 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 7.7% of BlueSpruce Investments LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. BlueSpruce Investments LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $329,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Macquarie increased their target price on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.81.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $571.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $554.16 and a 200 day moving average of $566.44. The company has a market capitalization of $513.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.53, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 22.25%.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.