Bleakley Financial Group LLC Sells 2,771 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Bleakley Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,640 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,771 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after acquiring an additional 72,461,743 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 861.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,648,748 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard shares are being supported by broader strength in financial stocks, which rose late in the session and helped lift sentiment across the sector. Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise Late Afternoon
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to meaningful upside in Mastercard, with Buy ratings and favorable MarketRank/price-target sentiment reinforcing a constructive outlook for the stock. Analysts See Major Upside for These 5 Stocks (MA)
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard also gained attention after adding NordVPN to its lifestyle perks, a small but positive consumer-facing enhancement that could support cardholder engagement. NordVPN is now part of Mastercard’s lifestyle perks — find out if you are eligible
• Neutral Sentiment: News that Mastercard is reviewing options for its U.K. payments subsidiary Vocalink suggests portfolio optimization, but the financial impact is still unclear because talks are reportedly early and no deal has been announced. Mastercard examines sale of UK payments subsidiary Vocalink
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional reports that Mastercard may sell a majority stake in Vocalink, and commentary about overseas regulators and “payment protectionism,” could matter strategically, but they do not yet indicate a completed transaction or immediate earnings impact. Mastercard in early talks to sell majority stake in Vocalink– report
• Negative Sentiment: The Vocalink headlines also highlight regulatory pressure in the U.K. and concerns about foreign ownership of critical payments infrastructure, which could create uncertainty or limit Mastercard’s strategic flexibility. Mastercard’s Vocalink rumors and the rise of payment protectionism

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $537.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $474.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $500.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $516.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,625,225. The trade was a 22.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% 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 a total of 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.78.

About Mastercard

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.