Employees Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its Mastercard stake by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,977 shares and leaving it with 382,078 shares valued at about $218.1 million.
• Mastercard’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $4.60 versus $4.41 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 15.8% year over year.
• Despite a slight stock decline in the session, Wall Street remains largely bullish on Mastercard, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $656.04.

Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 382,078 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 5,977 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 1.8% of Employees Retirement System of Texas' investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Mastercard were worth $218,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the third quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,597 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.1% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,717 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Affinity Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said consumer spending trends in the Middle East remain solid, which supports the view that cross-border and payments volume remain healthy. Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach: Overall spending trends in the Middle East remain solid
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard CTO Ed McLaughlin highlighted the company’s focus on future payment infrastructure, reinforcing investor confidence in Mastercard’s innovation pipeline and long-term growth strategy. Mastercard CTO Ed McLaughlin on Firm’s Goal to ‘Set the Stage for the Future’
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage from multiple outlets argued that Mastercard remains a top long-term growth stock, with continued emphasis on its scale, profitability, and decades of strong stock performance. Why Mastercard (MA) is a top growth stock for the long term
• Positive Sentiment: News that Increase expanded push-to-card transfers for Mastercard and Visa cards underscores continued adoption of Mastercard-linked payment rails in instant payout and refund use cases. Increase Expands Instant Payment Solutions to Include Push-to-Card Transfers
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles marked Mastercard’s 20-year IPO anniversary and its historical stock gains; these reinforce the company’s strong track record but do not change near-term fundamentals. NYSE Content Update: Mastercard Celebrates Two Decades as NYSE-Listed Company
• Neutral Sentiment: Other pieces compared Mastercard with Visa or highlighted its long-term share-price surge, which is supportive sentiment but not a direct catalyst for the stock today. Mastercard's stock is up 11,000% since its IPO 20 years ago. What comes next?
• Negative Sentiment: Broader consumer-spending commentary around selective shopping and Memorial Day promotions could signal a more cautious backdrop for payment volumes if discount-driven spending softness persists. Memorial Day Sales Test the Selective Consumer

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $631.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $494.22 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $501.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $528.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $436.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $480.50 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

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