Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,446 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,533 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $63,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $664.71.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and QNB Group processed Syria’s first international card transaction in more than 15 years. The milestone marks the reopening and modernization of Syria’s international payments infrastructure following the lifting of certain U.S. restrictions. Although the near-term financial contribution is likely to be small, the development creates a potential new market and demonstrates Mastercard’s ability to support payments expansion. Syria marks first international card transaction in more than 15 years with Mastercard and QNB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have given Mastercard a consensus “Buy” rating. Continued Wall Street support adds to the bullish backdrop, though the rating itself may already be reflected in the share price. Mastercard Incorporated Given Consensus Rating of Buy by Analysts
• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square founder Bill Ackman added Mastercard to the hedge fund’s portfolio. The purchase may improve investor sentiment by signaling confidence from a prominent long-term investor, although it does not change Mastercard’s operating outlook. Bill Ackman Just Made His Biggest Portfolio Overhaul in Years
• Positive Sentiment: A partnership with Klook targets growing travel and experiences spending across Asia Pacific. Mastercard cardholder benefits and additional travel-related payment touchpoints could support transaction volume in a high-growth region. Klook and Mastercard collaborate to enhance travelers’ experiences across Asia Pacific
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard will participate in the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on September 10, where CFO Ling Hai is scheduled to speak. Investors may look for updates on growth, margins and capital allocation, but no new financial information was provided. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s name appears as a supporter of an XRPL/Ripple hackathon, but reports caution that the sponsorship does not represent a new cryptocurrency partnership or major product launch. Mastercard’s Name Is on the Ripple Hackathon, But Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $595.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $549.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $519.62. The firm has a market cap of $521.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 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 three months, insiders have sold 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Mastercard

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.