9,755 Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 167.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,572 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,755 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,089,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in Mastercard by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 28,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 105.1% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,576 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,656,528 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $850,004,000 after purchasing an additional 82,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 50.1% during the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,675 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $632.00 target price (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. President Capital lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $681.56.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard has moved above key technical buy points and extended a multi-session winning streak. Analysts say the chart could be signaling a longer-term breakout, attracting momentum-focused investors. Why the charts are signaling that Mastercard could be poised for a long-term breakout
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to Mastercard’s third-quarter earnings report later this month, with analysts expecting double-digit earnings growth. The company’s latest quarter also exceeded consensus estimates for revenue and earnings, while revenue increased 14.1% year over year. Mastercard next earnings report expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its payments network through a crypto-linked card program with SoFi Tech Solutions and Orbi in Mexico. Customers can spend crypto or fiat while merchants receive traditional currency, potentially increasing transaction volumes. Mastercard Orbi crypto card program
• Positive Sentiment: New stablecoin and blockchain initiatives, an Africa cybersecurity center, and a WEX partnership creating an Asia-Pacific fleet-payments network support Mastercard’s longer-term growth strategy in digital, commercial and cross-border payments. WEX and Mastercard Asia-Pacific fleet payments network
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares for approximately $217,000 and separately sold 370 shares for about $218,000. Both transactions were conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing their signaling value. Mastercard insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard and Visa face a reported £700 million U.K. class action concerning post-Brexit fees, creating a potential legal and financial overhang. Visa and Mastercard U.K. class action

Mastercard Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:MA opened at $604.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $573.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $532.76. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $605.60. The company has a market cap of $529.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.90 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.14%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Linda 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at $17,781,695.49. The trade was a 12.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total value of $217,038.71. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,359 shares of company stock valued at $39,290,046. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Profile

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.