Assetmark Inc. Acquires 15,881 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 219,504 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,881 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $124,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,098,695,000 after acquiring an additional 931,132 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,062,509,000 after acquiring an additional 542,841 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $7,541,880,000 after purchasing an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,725,317,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Mastercard by 25.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $739.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $669.27.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $527.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $473.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $554.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $563.50. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Mastercard 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.