Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,020,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,395 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 1.0% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,116,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barr E S & Co. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.5% during the third quarter. Barr E S & Co. now owns 74,121 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,876,000 after purchasing an additional 3,191 shares in the last quarter. Everest Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 21.3% in the third quarter. Everest Financial Group LLC now owns 10,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 19.2% in the third quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. now owns 202,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $111,667,000 after purchasing an additional 32,515 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.3% in the third quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 10.9% in the third quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 3,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,064,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $720.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on Mastercard from $710.00 to $688.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one 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, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $713.21.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of MA opened at $652.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $568.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $681.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $598.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $541.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were given 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 was Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total value of $218,377.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. This trade represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Mastercard News

Investors following MA have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its price target on Mastercard to $764 from $730 and reiterated an “outperform” rating, implying 17.1% upside from the cited $652.48 reference price. TickerReport article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding payment capabilities and partnerships. It completed a reported agentic travel transaction, and separately partnered with Glyde to bring virtual-card payments to Southern Africa’s travel sector—developments that could support new use cases and transaction activity. PYMNTS article Mastercard and Glyde article
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s Canadian holiday survey found shoppers are emphasizing budgeting and value. That is useful context for consumer spending, but the report does not provide evidence of a change in Mastercard’s payment volumes. Yahoo Finance article

About Mastercard

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.