Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Increased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,107 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,808 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.6% of Ethic Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $57,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $18,984,867,000 after buying an additional 486,283 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 10.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after buying an additional 480,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after buying an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Mastercard by 17.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after buying an additional 554,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Mastercard by 5.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after buying an additional 199,424 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total transaction of $218,377.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,861,559.77. This trade represents a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,403,600. This trade represents a 8.18% 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. Insiders sold a total of 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.4%

MA opened at $653.45 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $681.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $593.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $539.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company has a market cap of $572.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The company’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat expectations: revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion and adjusted EPS increased 21.2%. Services revenue grew 19%, although higher incentives were flagged as a concern. Mastercard’s 19% Services Growth Steals the Q3 Show: Buy or Hold MA?
• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $735 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling potential upside in its view. Truist Financial rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded MA from Buy to Hold, despite lifting its target to $725. The mixed call may temper enthusiasm after the stock’s recent rally. Freedom Broker rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key risk: coverage notes the recent rally has outpaced changes in earnings estimates, leaving less room for disappointment. Rising incentives could also weigh on margins. Mastercard Stock Rose 22% in a Month. Here’s What Its Price Now Assumes
• Negative Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard face additional collective claims in the UK over card fees, adding potential legal and financial uncertainty. Visa and Mastercard face additional £5bn collective claims over card fees
• Neutral Sentiment: The CFO sold about $2.77 million of MA shares. The sale may attract attention, but the report provides no context on its purpose. Mastercard CFO stock sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $725.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday. Argus increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $704.62.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods.

The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.