Carderock Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Carderock Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,357 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 2.7% of Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Betterment LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 6.5% during the second quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 35.8% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,548,000 after acquiring an additional 178,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $431,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total transaction of $9,644,240.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,257,700. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 40,261 shares of company stock valued at $22,773,599 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $629.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $659.00.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BVNK acquisition expands digital-asset capabilities: Mastercard completed its purchase of stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK, a deal announced at a value of up to $1.8 billion. The acquisition is intended to connect fiat and digital currencies and strengthen Mastercard’s offerings to banks, businesses and other institutions adopting stablecoins. Mastercard completes acquisition of BVNK to advance global stablecoin capabilities
• Positive Sentiment: Fiserv partnership could drive merchant-services growth: Mastercard and Fiserv announced a global partnership combining Fiserv’s Commerce Hub with Mastercard’s merchant services. The collaboration is designed to help enterprise merchants improve payments across channels and markets, potentially increasing Mastercard’s business-to-business and value-added-services opportunities. Fiserv and Mastercard Deepen Global Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increases reinforce bullish sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Mastercard price target to $695 from $650 and maintained an “overweight” rating. Other reports also cited price-target increases to $680 and $685, suggesting analysts see additional upside following Mastercard’s strong earnings performance. Mastercard price target raised
• Positive Sentiment: Premium-card refresh supports payment volume and engagement: Mastercard, Citi and American Airlines introduced enhanced benefits for the Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Legend Mastercard, including expanded lounge access, rewards and travel-related perks. The initiative targets frequent premium travelers and could support spending activity on Mastercard’s network. Mastercard launches richer Citi AAdvantage Executive World Legend Card
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard announced six senior appointments across Asia Pacific and is reorganizing regional leadership. The moves may improve execution but have no immediate financial impact. Mastercard makes senior appointments across Asia Pacific
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Michael Miebach sold a combined 33,256 shares for approximately $19.1 million, reducing his direct holdings by roughly 26%. Because both sales occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, they may reflect scheduled diversification rather than a negative view of Mastercard’s outlook, limiting the bearish signal. Mastercard CEO SEC Form 4 filing

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $571.26 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $517.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $514.63. The firm has a market cap of $504.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.72.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

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.