Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 9,138 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Sterling Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,147 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,138 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $130,902,000 after acquiring an additional 9,795 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 396.3% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,343,000 after purchasing an additional 36,848 shares during the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $1,328,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 65,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to attract investor interest as a trending stock, which can support shares by keeping attention on the company’s earnings and growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted new travel-focused offerings, including its “Priceless Africa” experience, reinforcing its strategy to deepen consumer engagement and build higher-value travel spending across its network. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and MarginEdge launched a commercial charge card for restaurants, a small but potentially useful expansion of Mastercard’s commercial payments footprint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary continues to frame Mastercard as a premium payments company tied to international expansion, but some articles also argue the stock remains expensive and has lagged over longer periods, which could temper enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional pieces focused on broad “what to know” coverage and consumer trends, but did not report a major new catalyst that would materially change Mastercard’s near-term fundamentals. Article Title

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA opened at $499.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $441.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $496.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $519.84.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.Mastercard’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price target on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.08.

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.