US Bancorp DE Has $499.87 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

US Bancorp DE cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 878,793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 10,824 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $499,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after purchasing an additional 955,533 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,725,317,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Mastercard by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,580,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.4%

NYSE:MA opened at $509.86 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $547.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $560.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $454.70 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MA. HSBC upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.27.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.