Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. Purchases 4,114 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 124.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,425 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,114 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 1.6% of Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,612,087,000 after purchasing an additional 466,514 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,773,153,000 after purchasing an additional 349,369 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 629,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,303,015,000 after acquiring an additional 235,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $493.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $480.50 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $501.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $527.80. The stock has a market cap of $436.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard received a New York BitLicense, strengthening its ability to pursue regulated digital asset, stablecoin, and blockchain payment initiatives. Mastercard Granted New York State Department of Financial Services BitLicense
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and commentary pieces highlighted Mastercard as a potential beneficiary of inflation and currency debasement trends, pointing to its high-margin payments model and durable global network. Mastercard: The Perfect Hedge Against Currency Debasement And Inflation
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s upcoming conference appearances keep management visible to investors, but these events are unlikely to move the stock on their own. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also presented at Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference, which may offer strategic updates but does not appear to include a major new catalyst. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Presents at Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference Transcript

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $631.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04.

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.