Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 38,825 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 262,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 38,825 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $130,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% in the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $499.71 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $496.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $519.84. The company has a market cap of $441.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MA. Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.08.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to attract investor interest as a trending stock, which can support shares by keeping attention on the company’s earnings and growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted new travel-focused offerings, including its “Priceless Africa” experience, reinforcing its strategy to deepen consumer engagement and build higher-value travel spending across its network. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and MarginEdge launched a commercial charge card for restaurants, a small but potentially useful expansion of Mastercard’s commercial payments footprint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary continues to frame Mastercard as a premium payments company tied to international expansion, but some articles also argue the stock remains expensive and has lagged over longer periods, which could temper enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional pieces focused on broad “what to know” coverage and consumer trends, but did not report a major new catalyst that would materially change Mastercard’s near-term fundamentals. Article Title

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.