State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 254,781 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 0.7% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $144,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,276,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the second quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Nvest Financial LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $549.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $555.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.28. The stock has a market cap of $493.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Daiwa America upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Macquarie Infrastructure raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.18.

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.