Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• B. Riley Wealth Advisors increased its Mastercard position by 23.3% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 11,463 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.28% of the company.
• Mastercard reported quarterly earnings and revenue above analyst expectations, with EPS of $5.04 and revenue of $9.28 billion, up 14.1% year over year. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $681.56.
• Shares recently traded near a 12-month high, while Mastercard continues expanding into crypto-linked payments, stablecoin settlement and emerging markets. Potential risks include a reported £700 million U.K. class action and recent insider selling under pre-arranged trading plans.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 23.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,463 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,164 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Mastercard by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 486,283 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $2,559,779,000 after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,111,216,000 after acquiring an additional 42,871 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 17.8% in 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. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Technical analysts say Mastercard may be approaching a long-term breakout after moving above key buy points and extending a multi-session winning streak. This is attracting momentum-oriented investors. Why the charts are signaling that Mastercard could be poised for a long-term breakout
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are anticipating Mastercard’s third-quarter results later this month, with analysts expecting double-digit earnings growth. The company’s latest reported quarter also exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue. Here’s What to Expect From Mastercard Incorporated’s Next Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is broadening its payments ecosystem through a crypto-linked card program with SoFi Tech Solutions and Orbi in Mexico. The program allows customers to spend crypto or fiat while merchants receive traditional currency, potentially increasing Mastercard network usage. Does Mastercard Using Orbi’s Crypto Card in Mexico Hint at a Deeper Network Strategy?
• Positive Sentiment: New digital-asset initiatives, including an Open USD stablecoin on Solana for cross-border payments, reinforce Mastercard’s strategy of participating in blockchain-based settlement and international commerce. Mastercard launches Open USD stablecoin on Solana for cross-border payments
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced an Africa cybersecurity center and partnered with WEX on an Asia-Pacific fleet-payments network projected to process billions of dollars in annual transactions, supporting longer-term growth in commercial and emerging-market payments. WEX and Mastercard partner to unify fleet payments across Asia-Pacific
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Julius Genachowski sold shares in two transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sales modestly reduced his holdings but are less concerning because they were scheduled in advance. Mastercard SEC Form 4 insider transaction
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard and Visa face a reported £700 million class action in the United Kingdom related to post-Brexit fees, creating a potential legal and financial overhang. Visa and Mastercard face £700m class action over post-Brexit fees

Mastercard Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of MA stock opened at $604.95 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $529.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.76. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $605.60. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $573.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $532.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $632.00 price target (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $701.00 price objective (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $681.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total value of $217,038.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,035,181.07. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total transaction of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at $17,781,695.49. This represents a 12.07% 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 sold 68,359 shares of company stock valued at $39,290,046. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated NYSE: MA is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payment transactions, while generally not issuing cards or extending credit itself. Its network supports payments made in stores, online and through mobile devices.

Mastercard's products and services include consumer and commercial payment cards, digital payment solutions, payment processing, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, identity verification, data and analytics, and open banking tools.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.