Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Marks Group Wealth Management Inc

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,046 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Betterment LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,548,000 after buying an additional 178,387 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $431,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is participating in the Agentic Payments Alliance with Rain, Visa and other industry players. The group aims to establish standards for AI agents that can conduct purchases, potentially creating new transaction volumes and strengthening Mastercard’s role in emerging digital payments. Rain forms agentic payments alliance with Visa, Mastercard and other players
• Positive Sentiment: Chief Executive Officer Michael Miebach discussed how Mastercard is preparing for a future in which AI agents shop on behalf of consumers. The strategy could help the company capture payments from a rapidly developing technology trend. How Mastercard CEO is preparing for a world where AI agents do the shopping
• Positive Sentiment: A recent investor analysis highlighted Mastercard’s stable growth outlook, supported by expanding payment volume, cross-border transactions and strong profitability. Stable Growth Trajectory Positions Mastercard for Strong Returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard appointed Yasemin Bedir as president of its Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The leadership change could support regional expansion, but its near-term financial impact is unclear. Mastercard appoints Yasemin Bedir as EEMEA president
• Negative Sentiment: Insider J. Mehra Sachin sold 8,444 shares for approximately $4.87 million across August 19–20. Although the sales reduced his holdings, the use of a pre-arranged trading plan makes them a weaker bearish signal than discretionary selling. Mastercard insider trading filing

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.68, for a total value 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 $65,806,033.28. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,625,225. This trade represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Mastercard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price target on Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $661.93.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $574.33 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $536.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $517.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The stock has a market cap of $503.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.72. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

Mastercard Company 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.