Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 8,210 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,210 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $40,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 175.0% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 165 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 516.9% during the second quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,446,000 after buying an additional 3,649 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 9,771 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,491,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 10.0% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $537.69 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $554.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $563.75. The stock has a market cap of $482.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six equities 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, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.27.

Mastercard 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.