1,516 Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,520 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fundsmith LLP acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $639,458,000. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its position in Mastercard by 147.2% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,682,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $863,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,671 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Mastercard by 295.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 860,011 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $441,702,000 after purchasing an additional 642,724 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $293,574,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 2,464,499 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,231,412,000 after purchasing an additional 575,412 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 subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Mastercard from $633.00 to $674.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Mastercard from $665.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore upped their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $683.94.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total value of $217,038.71. Following the sale, the director owned 8,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,035,181.07. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total transaction of $2,676,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $22,165,000. This represents a 10.77% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,676 shares of company stock valued at $41,966,586. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MA opened at $614.38 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $633.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $581.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $535.08. The stock has a market cap of $538.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.14%.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard partnered with Tech Mahindra to embed virtual cards and payment capabilities into ERP and procurement platforms. The initiative could expand Mastercard’s business-to-business payments volume, improve spend controls and support value-added-services revenue. Tech Mahindra and Mastercard partnership
• Positive Sentiment: The company is expanding its First-Party Trust program across Europe, the Middle East and Africa to reduce “friendly fraud” and payment disputes. Broader fraud-prevention and chargeback tools may strengthen merchant relationships and create additional services revenue. Mastercard EMEA fraud program
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched a creator-focused card initiative with MrBeast’s Beast Industries, potentially supporting new co-branded card programs, consumer engagement and creator-economy payment products. Mastercard creator card project
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is being positioned to benefit from long-term digital-payments growth, AI-agent commerce, tokenization and expanded payment-security applications. A financing platform with FCMB could also broaden financial access for Nigerian farmers. Mastercard and AI-agent commerce
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts expect Visa and Mastercard to meet or beat quarterly estimates, with investors focused on payment volume, cross-border growth, value-added services and management’s outlook. The positive expectations raise the bar for MA’s October 29 report. Visa and Mastercard earnings outlook
• Negative Sentiment: With Mastercard trading at roughly 34 times earnings and near its annual high, investors may be locking in gains or reducing exposure before earnings. Any disappointment in key metrics or guidance could pressure the stock despite favorable long-term fundamentals. Mastercard third-quarter earnings risks

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.