M Holdings Securities Inc. Purchases 6,441 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,441 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,984,867,000 after buying an additional 486,283 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 10.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after acquiring an additional 42,871 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after acquiring an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Mastercard by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after acquiring an additional 554,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at $21,403,600. This represents a 8.18% 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, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total value of $2,767,197.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,915,750. The trade was a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Mastercard from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $704.62.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat expectations: revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion and adjusted EPS increased 21.2%. Services revenue grew 19%, although higher incentives were flagged as a concern. Mastercard’s 19% Services Growth Steals the Q3 Show: Buy or Hold MA?
• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $735 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling potential upside in its view. Truist Financial rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded MA from Buy to Hold, despite lifting its target to $725. The mixed call may temper enthusiasm after the stock’s recent rally. Freedom Broker rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key risk: coverage notes the recent rally has outpaced changes in earnings estimates, leaving less room for disappointment. Rising incentives could also weigh on margins. Mastercard Stock Rose 22% in a Month. Here’s What Its Price Now Assumes
• Negative Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard face additional collective claims in the UK over card fees, adding potential legal and financial uncertainty. Visa and Mastercard face additional £5bn collective claims over card fees
• Neutral Sentiment: The CFO sold about $2.77 million of MA shares. The sale may attract attention, but the report provides no context on its purpose. Mastercard CFO stock sale

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE MA opened at $653.45 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $681.99. The company has a market capitalization of $572.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $593.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $539.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods.

The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.