Elevated Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,251 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,043 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,251 shares during the period. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its Mastercard price target from $675 to $800 and maintained a “buy” rating. The new target implies about 21.4% upside from the cited $658.91 price, signaling increased analyst optimism. TickerReport article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard will be the card-network partner for Sage’s planned small-business accounts and debit cards, initially being implemented in France with Adyen. The arrangement could broaden Mastercard’s reach among small businesses. Sage partnership article
• Positive Sentiment: Other partnerships include a BMO business credit card in Canada and a Citizens treasury-management service using Mastercard technology, expanding its commercial-card and corporate-services footprint. Business banking partnerships article
• Positive Sentiment: Investor activity has also been supportive: one report said Pershing Square added to Mastercard in the second quarter, while another reported a fund increased its stake by 1,884% in the third quarter. Pershing Square holdings article Fund holdings article
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Michael Miebach described cybersecurity as a major concern for protecting financial infrastructure. The comments highlight an ongoing industry risk, but no specific breach or new Mastercard-related impact was reported. Cybersecurity interview

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $658.91 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $681.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $595.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $540.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $574.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Barclays upped their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Clear Str upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $709.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total value of $218,377.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $22,915,750. This trade represents a 10.77% 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 a total of 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736 over the last ninety days. 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.