Generali Investments Management Co LLC Invests $1.40 Million in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,658 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,400,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 62,891 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $194,141,000 after buying an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2 %

MA traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $535.14. 5,973,324 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,376,248. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $487.89 billion, a PE ratio of 38.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $547.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $524.65.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Mastercard

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.