31,702 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated $MA Bought by SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda

SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 31,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,282,000. Mastercard comprises 1.6% of SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Betterment LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the second quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,548,000 after purchasing an additional 178,387 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $431,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,781,695.49. This trade represents a 12.07% 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. Insiders have sold 71,357 shares of company stock valued at $40,637,262 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and QNB Group processed Syria’s first international card transaction in more than 15 years. The milestone marks the reopening and modernization of Syria’s international payments infrastructure following the lifting of certain U.S. restrictions. Although the near-term financial contribution is likely to be small, the development creates a potential new market and demonstrates Mastercard’s ability to support payments expansion. Syria marks first international card transaction in more than 15 years with Mastercard and QNB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have given Mastercard a consensus “Buy” rating. Continued Wall Street support adds to the bullish backdrop, though the rating itself may already be reflected in the share price. Mastercard Incorporated Given Consensus Rating of Buy by Analysts
• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square founder Bill Ackman added Mastercard to the hedge fund’s portfolio. The purchase may improve investor sentiment by signaling confidence from a prominent long-term investor, although it does not change Mastercard’s operating outlook. Bill Ackman Just Made His Biggest Portfolio Overhaul in Years
• Positive Sentiment: A partnership with Klook targets growing travel and experiences spending across Asia Pacific. Mastercard cardholder benefits and additional travel-related payment touchpoints could support transaction volume in a high-growth region. Klook and Mastercard collaborate to enhance travelers’ experiences across Asia Pacific
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard will participate in the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on September 10, where CFO Ling Hai is scheduled to speak. Investors may look for updates on growth, margins and capital allocation, but no new financial information was provided. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s name appears as a supporter of an XRPL/Ripple hackathon, but reports caution that the sponsorship does not represent a new cryptocurrency partnership or major product launch. Mastercard’s Name Is on the Ripple Hackathon, But Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MA. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Mastercard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $664.71.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6%

MA stock opened at $595.51 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $549.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $519.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $521.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The business’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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