308,517 Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its Mastercard stake by 24.8% in the third quarter, buying 308,517 shares to hold 1,552,222 shares worth about $856.4 million.
• Mastercard reported quarterly revenue of $9.81 billion, up 14% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $5.31, beating analyst expectations.
• Potential concerns include rising incentives and valuation following a recent stock rally; Mastercard also faces additional UK card-fee claims.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 24.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,552,222 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 308,517 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.8% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.18% of Mastercard worth $856,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 40,397 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $22,278,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $260,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,829 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 340 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: 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

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $653.45 on Friday. The business's fifty 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 P/E ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $681.99. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.38 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,318 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.43, for a total transaction of $2,774,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,966,872.50. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 dated Friday, October 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,035,181.07. This represents a 4.13% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MA. President Capital increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $722.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $704.62.

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.

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