Czech National Bank Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,657 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,387 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.8% of Czech National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $119,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 0.8% during the third quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 4,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,461,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 1,695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,944 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCP Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. TCP Asset Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $654.81.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $564.92 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $553.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $566.14. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $507.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.87. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.44%.

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.