State of Wyoming Purchases 1,373 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

State of Wyoming lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,075 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 0.3% of State of Wyoming’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Thomasville National Bank boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its network capabilities to support stablecoin, intraday, holiday, and weekend settlement options, which could improve transaction flexibility and keep the company relevant as payments move on-chain. Mastercard Prepares to Expand Network Capabilities for New Settlement Choices
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Mastercard is backing a stealth stablecoin platform alongside Visa, Stripe, and potentially Coinbase, reinforcing the view that the company is trying to shape the future of digital payments rather than be disrupted by them. Mastercard and Visa Back Stealth Stablecoin Platform
• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital reaffirmed a Buy rating and set a $631 price target, signaling continued analyst confidence after recent results and new growth initiatives. Benzinga report on Loop Capital rating
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is testing instant cross-currency payments on the TIPS platform and 24/7 on-chain settlement features, which could strengthen its cross-border and real-time payments franchise. Mastercard tests instant cross-currency payments on TIPS platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard reshuffled leadership, naming Ling Hai CFO and moving Sachin Mehra into a new business role; investors will likely view this as a strategic reorganization unless execution concerns emerge. Mastercard names Ling Hai CFO, moves Sachin Mehra to new role
• Negative Sentiment: News that U.S. sanctions are interrupting Visa and Mastercard payments in Cuba highlights a localized geopolitical disruption that could weigh on payment volumes in the region. US sanctions interrupt Visa, Mastercard payments in Cuba

Mastercard Trading Down 1.1%

Mastercard stock opened at $472.62 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $500.38 and a 200-day moving average of $525.79. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. 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 company has a market cap of $417.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.73 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.04.

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.