Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Brooklyn Investment Group

Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,599 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 494 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.0% of Brooklyn Investment Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Brooklyn Investment Group's holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $575.00 price target (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $2.08 on Friday, hitting $525.22. 2,373,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,205,146. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $524.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $494.24. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $427.45 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.