ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 533.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,435 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,788 shares during the quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP's holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $35,932,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in 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 valued at $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $607.96.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded down $22.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $492.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,134,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,593,633. The firm has a market capitalization of $449.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $545.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $528.04. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

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.