Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 105,107 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,808 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.6% of Ethic Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $57,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,984,867,000 after buying an additional 486,283 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after buying an additional 480,725 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,111,216,000 after acquiring an additional 42,871 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,862,527,000 after acquiring an additional 199,424 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Mastercard by 17.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,831,763,000 after acquiring an additional 554,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $653.45 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $681.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $593.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $539.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $572.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MA. President Capital increased their price objective on Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho set a $711.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $704.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total transaction of $218,377.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,861,559.77. This trade represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total value of $2,767,197.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,915,750. This represents a 10.77% 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. Insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.