AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4,247.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,597 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 61,157 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $31,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park National Corp OH boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 1,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in Mastercard by 18.8% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 368,510 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $184,130,000 after buying an additional 58,235 shares during the period. Orser Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.2% during the first quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC now owns 8,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,121,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Lexington Hill Partners LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 56.6% in the first quarter. Lexington Hill Partners LLC now owns 628 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in Mastercard by 29.9% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 735 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $490.73 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $433.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $498.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $521.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

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.