Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 31.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,581 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,423 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in Mastercard by 113.8% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total transaction of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,781,695.49. This represents a 12.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total transaction of $217,038.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,035,181.07. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 68,359 shares of company stock worth $39,290,046. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $720.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.56.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Mastercard’s upcoming third-quarter report to show double-digit earnings growth. The company’s latest quarter surpassed consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, reinforcing confidence in continued payment-volume growth. Mastercard earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s shares have moved above key technical buy points and are approaching record levels, prompting some analysts to identify the potential for a longer-term breakout. Mastercard technical breakout analysis
• Positive Sentiment: New partnerships with SoFi Tech Solutions and Orbi in Mexico allow customers to spend either cryptocurrency or fiat currency through a Mastercard-supported card, potentially expanding network usage in the growing digital-asset economy. Mastercard and Orbi crypto card program
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is broadening its growth opportunities with an Africa cybersecurity center, an Asia-Pacific fleet-payments network with WEX and stablecoin-based cross-border payment initiatives. These efforts could increase long-term transaction volumes and diversify revenue sources. Mastercard international expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard declared a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, equivalent to a $3.48 annualized payout and a modest 0.6% yield. The dividend supports shareholder returns but is unlikely to be a major near-term catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Julius Genachowski sold shares in multiple transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sales reduced his holdings by roughly 4%, but the scheduled nature of the transactions limits their signaling value. Mastercard director stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard and Visa face a reported £700 million UK class action related to post-Brexit fees. Potential litigation costs or regulatory remedies could pressure future profitability. Mastercard UK class action

Mastercard Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $602.39 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $606.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $574.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $533.48. The company has a market cap of $527.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.90 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

About Mastercard

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 the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payment transactions, while generally not issuing cards or extending credit itself. Its network supports payments made in stores, online and through mobile devices.

Mastercard’s products and services include consumer and commercial payment cards, digital payment solutions, payment processing, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, identity verification, data and analytics, and open banking tools.