Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock: Providence First Trust Co Raises Stake

Providence First Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 289.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,762 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the quarter. Providence First Trust Co’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $25,000. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 58.7% in the third quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 73 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Financial Group bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $720.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $674.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $668.00 to $731.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $701.00 price target (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $704.62.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat expectations: revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion and adjusted EPS increased 21.2%. Services revenue grew 19%, although higher incentives were flagged as a concern. Mastercard’s 19% Services Growth Steals the Q3 Show: Buy or Hold MA?
• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $735 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling potential upside in its view. Truist Financial rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded MA from Buy to Hold, despite lifting its target to $725. The mixed call may temper enthusiasm after the stock’s recent rally. Freedom Broker rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key risk: coverage notes the recent rally has outpaced changes in earnings estimates, leaving less room for disappointment. Rising incentives could also weigh on margins. Mastercard Stock Rose 22% in a Month. Here’s What Its Price Now Assumes
• Negative Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard face additional collective claims in the UK over card fees, adding potential legal and financial uncertainty. Visa and Mastercard face additional £5bn collective claims over card fees
• Neutral Sentiment: The CFO sold about $2.77 million of MA shares. The sale may attract attention, but the report provides no context on its purpose. Mastercard CFO stock sale

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 40,916 shares in the company, valued at $23,613,851.08. The trade was a 15.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total transaction of $217,038.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,035,181.07. This represents a 4.13% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA traded down $2.47 on Friday, reaching $653.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,293,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,281,489. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $593.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $539.12. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $681.99. The company has a market cap of $572.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.20%.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.