Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Sold by Inscription Capital LLC

Inscription Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 904 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $18,984,867,000 after buying an additional 486,283 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,559,779,000 after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 42,871 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 554,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $668.00 to $731.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Freedom Broker cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $725.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $704.62.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $653.45 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $593.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $539.12. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $681.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $572.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued 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 presently 18.20%.

Mastercard News Summary

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.