Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 525,676 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,477 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Mastercard worth $276,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 483.3% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 88 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during 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 commented on the stock. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $3.74 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $558.81. 2,795,351 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,622,472. The stock has a market capitalization of $509.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.23, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $544.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $519.64.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued 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 0.54%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.