American Century Companies Inc. Has $2.97 Billion Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,213,964 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 57,798 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 1.5% of American Century Companies Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,965,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 11.0% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 460,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $261,741,000 after purchasing an additional 40,109 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 53,763 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 85.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 2,573 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth $160,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Compass Point raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore set a $610.00 price target on Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $669.27.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $515.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $545.00 and a 200-day moving average of $559.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $460.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.07%.

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.