Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $459 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 871,674 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 39,732 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 5.1% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned about 0.09% of Mastercard worth $458,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. State Street Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

MA stock traded up $2.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $525.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,373,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,205,146. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $427.45 and a 52 week high of $537.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $524.28 and a 200 day moving average of $494.92. The company 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.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho upped their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $566.63.

Mastercard 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.