Swedbank AB Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,899,778 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,210 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 1.2% of Swedbank AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Swedbank AB owned 0.21% of Mastercard worth $1,000,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MA traded up $1.89 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $549.25. 2,544,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,604,227. The business's 50-day moving average price is $525.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $499.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $504.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $551.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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.