Mariner Investment Group LLC Invests $57.09 Million in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Mariner Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 100,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,088,000. Mastercard comprises approximately 3.3% of Mariner Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $5,357,000. Ketron Financial bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,827,000. SG Trading Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $4,582,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 78,478 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,802,000 after buying an additional 10,325 shares during the period. Finally, Nolet Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $359,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial cut their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE MA opened at $490.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $433.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $498.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.73 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.14%.

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.