Sanctuary Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Sanctuary Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 82,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 7,622 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $41,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,612,087,000 after purchasing an additional 466,514 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after buying an additional 72,461,743 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,773,153,000 after buying an additional 349,369 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,256,368,000 after buying an additional 759,584 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Baird raised its price target on Mastercard to $680 from $660 and kept an “Outperform” rating, citing expectations for revenue growth acceleration in the coming quarters. Baird Raises PT on Mastercard (MA) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays initiated coverage on Mastercard with an “Overweight” rating and a $640 price target, reinforcing bullish sentiment around the stock. Barclays Initiates Mastercard (MA) Coverage at Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to expand partnerships and product usage, including RAKBANK strengthening its relationship with Mastercard, Kraken rolling out a Mastercard crypto debit card in the UK and Europe, and new consumer perks such as NordVPN access. RAKBANK and Mastercard strengthen strategic relationship to drive payments innovation
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s shares have been trading higher recently as the company benefits from broader strength in financial stocks and a positive earnings backdrop from its last report.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard is reportedly considering selling a majority stake in its UK payments subsidiary Vocalink, a move that could free up capital and reduce regulatory overhang, but it also raises questions about its long-term strategy in a key infrastructure asset. Mastercard examines sale of UK payments subsidiary Vocalink
• Neutral Sentiment: The House passed a bill that would restrict payment card networks from requiring firearm-related merchant category codes, which could create compliance changes for Mastercard, though the financial impact is still uncertain. Congress Vote: The House has passed H.R. 1181 – Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act
• Negative Sentiment: Citi ThankYou Mastercard losing JetBlue as a transfer partner could make that card less attractive to some consumers, potentially pressuring associated card economics and brand appeal. Citi ThankYou Mastercard Loses JetBlue as a Transfer Partner

Mastercard Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE MA opened at $538.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $476.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $516.55. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.78.

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.