Martin Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Martin Investment Management trimmed its Mastercard stake by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,194 shares and leaving it with 31,348 shares valued at about $17.9 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains bullish: TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating with a $671 price target after Mastercard’s Q1 results showed 12% net revenue growth, while the broader analyst consensus is also a Buy.
• Mastercard reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue, with EPS of $4.60 versus $4.41 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 15.8% year over year.

Martin Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,348 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,194 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 4.7% of Martin Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Martin Investment Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Betterment LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the second quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 35.8% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $380,548,000 after purchasing an additional 178,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $431,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reiterated its Buy rating on Mastercard with a $671 price target, citing Q1 results that showed 12% net revenue growth and reinforcing a constructive view on the company’s growth outlook. TD Cowen Reaffirms Buy Rating on Mastercard (MA) After Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard joined a European cross-border instant payments pilot with the central banks of Denmark and Sweden, a move that highlights continued expansion in faster payments and could support long-term transaction growth. Mastercard Joins European Cross-Border Instant Payments Pilot
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard also rolled out new AI-powered fraud and merchant-trust tools, which should help strengthen network security and reduce fraud-related losses over time. Mastercard Tightens Fraud Rules And AI Tools As Share Price Slips
• Neutral Sentiment: Several investor commentary pieces argued Mastercard screens attractively after a year of underperformance, suggesting valuation support but not a near-term catalyst by itself. Visa at $326, Mastercard at $493: Buy, Sell or Hold?
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard was mentioned in a report about Berkshire Hathaway removing the stock from its portfolio, which may create some headline pressure, though the impact on fundamentals appears limited. Another fintech giant gets the pink slip from Warren Buffett's Berkshire

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $496.08 on Tuesday. 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. The stock has a market cap of $438.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $501.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $526.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.73 earnings per share. 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 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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