Marietta Investment Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Marietta Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,025 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,263 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 2.1% of Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Betterment LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% in the second quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 35.8% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,548,000 after acquiring an additional 178,387 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $431,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Citigroup dropped their price target on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, June 25th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $653.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,625,225. This trade represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced new partnerships to expand digital and inclusive financial services, including a collaboration with VEON across Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. That supports the company’s international growth strategy and could increase future network usage and transaction volume. VEON and Mastercard Join Forces to Accelerate Accessibility of Financial Services
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard also said integrated payment systems could add meaningful tourism revenue, reinforcing the company’s role as a beneficiary of cross-border spending and digital payments adoption. Integrated payment systems could add €300 in annual tourism revenue – MasterCard
• Positive Sentiment: ZEN.COM launched Mastercard Click to Pay, reflecting rising demand for simpler online checkout experiences and another sign that Mastercard’s payment rails remain widely adopted by merchants and consumers. ZEN.COM Launches Mastercard Click to Pay as Consumer Demand for Simpler Online Payments Grows
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Mastercard’s strong earnings track record and suggested it could beat estimates again next quarter, which can support investor confidence ahead of the next report. Will MasterCard (MA) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat’s week-in-review coverage framed Mastercard as a steady, high-quality payments name, but it did not introduce any new company-specific catalyst beyond broader investor interest in defensive growth stocks. MarketBeat Week in Review – 06/29 – 07/03
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary on stablecoins and payments competition suggests the industry is evolving, but the articles generally portray Mastercard as well-positioned rather than under direct pressure. Is Mastercard (MA) Trading At A Premium Despite Stablecoin Moves?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Raj Seshadri sold shares on two separate days under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan. While not necessarily a bearish signal on fundamentals, insider sales can still weigh on sentiment around the stock. SEC filing for insider sale

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $539.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $476.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $497.92 and its 200-day moving average is $518.61. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.14%.

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.