Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Increases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,886 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,619 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 1.0% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $67,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after buying an additional 955,533 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $6,725,317,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,885,944,000 after purchasing an additional 629,941 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $491.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $438.58 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $526.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $551.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MA. Compass Point upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $667.88.

About Mastercard

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.