Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Blacksheep Fund Management Ltd

Blacksheep Fund Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 97.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 87,650 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,330 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 17.7% of Blacksheep Fund Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Blacksheep Fund Management Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $43,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Mastercard by 820.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of MA stock opened at $537.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $474.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $505.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $515.35. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,625,225. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.92.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Al Etihad Payments announced the first co-badged Jaywan-Mastercard credit card, a new partnership that could expand Mastercard’s footprint in the UAE and support payment-network volume growth. Al Etihad Payments, Mastercard launch world’s first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard was highlighted as a strong momentum stock, reinforcing the view that the company still has favorable fundamental and trading characteristics despite recent weakness. Here’s Why MasterCard (MA) is a Strong Momentum Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Lithic introduced a way to make small-business loan proceeds spend-ready, a payments-adjacent product that could deepen Mastercard’s role in SMB finance workflows. Lithic and Mastercard Make SMB Loans Ready to Spend

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.