Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Acquires 307 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,333 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $33,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $532.66 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $545.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $523.50. The firm has a market cap of $485.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mastercard

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.