Jackson Square Capital LLC Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Jackson Square Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 59.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,203 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,056 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 1.0% of Jackson Square Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Jackson Square Capital LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake 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 buying an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $194,141,000 after buying an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 100,550 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $575.00 price target (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $525.22. 2,373,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,205,146. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $524.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $494.59. The stock has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $427.45 and a one year high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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.