Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 61,646 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,642 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.6% of Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $35,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,580,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,977 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,098,695,000 after purchasing an additional 931,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:MA opened at $549.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $555.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $564.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $493.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued 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 is 21.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.18.

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.