Monograph Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Monograph Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 245.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,391 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Monograph Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Mastercard by 861.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648,748 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised 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 valued at $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $531.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a market cap of $469.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $506.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $515.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released 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. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.73 EPS. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Al Etihad Payments announced the launch of the first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card, which could expand Mastercard’s acceptance and deepen its presence in the UAE payments ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Mastercard as a strong momentum stock and a top non-AI pick among retail investors may be supporting sentiment around the company’s durable network model and defensive appeal. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s AI-focused commentary from Jill Kramer frames artificial intelligence as a tool for creativity and insight, but it does not appear to be a direct near-term earnings catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles about Mastercard’s patent work, World Cup payment performance, and a potential Vocalink sale suggest ongoing strategic activity, but the market impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Comparisons with Affirm argue that MA has less room to run because Affirm offers faster growth, lower valuation, and higher analyst upside, which may be pressuring Mastercard’s relative appeal. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Mastercard may sell a majority stake in its UK payments subsidiary Vocalink raised questions about strategy and exposure to critical payment infrastructure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary about Mastercard “betting billions” on technology that could disrupt its own business, plus stablecoin competition headlines, highlight growing long-term competitive threats in payments. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,625,225. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.92.

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.