Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,581 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,423 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Mastercard’s upcoming third-quarter report to show double-digit earnings growth. The company’s latest quarter surpassed consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, reinforcing confidence in continued payment-volume growth. Mastercard earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s shares have moved above key technical buy points and are approaching record levels, prompting some analysts to identify the potential for a longer-term breakout. Mastercard technical breakout analysis
• Positive Sentiment: New partnerships with SoFi Tech Solutions and Orbi in Mexico allow customers to spend either cryptocurrency or fiat currency through a Mastercard-supported card, potentially expanding network usage in the growing digital-asset economy. Mastercard and Orbi crypto card program
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is broadening its growth opportunities with an Africa cybersecurity center, an Asia-Pacific fleet-payments network with WEX and stablecoin-based cross-border payment initiatives. These efforts could increase long-term transaction volumes and diversify revenue sources. Mastercard international expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard declared a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, equivalent to a $3.48 annualized payout and a modest 0.6% yield. The dividend supports shareholder returns but is unlikely to be a major near-term catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Julius Genachowski sold shares in multiple transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sales reduced his holdings by roughly 4%, but the scheduled nature of the transactions limits their signaling value. Mastercard director stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard and Visa face a reported £700 million UK class action related to post-Brexit fees. Potential litigation costs or regulatory remedies could pressure future profitability. Mastercard UK class action

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MA. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $681.56.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,781,695.49. This trade represents a 12.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.68, for a total transaction of $9,439,383.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,806,033.28. This represents a 12.54% 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 a total of 68,359 shares of company stock valued at $39,290,046 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $602.39 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $574.08 and a 200-day moving average of $533.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $606.61. The firm has a market cap of $527.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payment transactions, while generally not issuing cards or extending credit itself. Its network supports payments made in stores, online and through mobile devices.

Mastercard’s products and services include consumer and commercial payment cards, digital payment solutions, payment processing, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, identity verification, data and analytics, and open banking tools.