Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Dearborn Partners LLC

Key Points

• Dearborn Partners LLC trimmed its Mastercard stake by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,302 shares but still holding 69,090 shares valued at about $39.4 million.
• Mastercard reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.60 beating estimates and revenue of $8.40 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 15.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: the stock has a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $656.04, despite one recent downgrade to Hold and a modest price-target cut from UBS.

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,090 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,302 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 2.0% of Dearborn Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $39,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 250.0% during the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc increased its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $491.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $434.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $499.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $525.11.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MA. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. 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. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $656.04.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s CEO said spending growth has been holding up across all income bands, suggesting consumers remain resilient despite higher gas and food prices. That supports the outlook for payment volume and transaction growth. Mastercard CEO: Spending growth has been happening across all income bands
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its open finance ecosystem through a partnership with PaidBy, adding cross-border open banking payments, local-currency account-to-account transactions, and faster settlement. Can Mastercard Strengthen Its Open Finance Ecosystem With PaidBy?
• Positive Sentiment: News that Mastercard is adding stablecoins and broader settlement windows points to continued innovation in payments infrastructure, which could help the company capture more transaction flows and improve settlement efficiency. Mastercard adds stablecoins to payment settlement system
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s leadership shake-up and AI-focused initiatives suggest management is trying to accelerate fintech growth and modernize the business, which investors may view as supportive of long-term expansion. Mastercard Leadership Shake-Up to Drive Fintech Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to highlight Mastercard’s strong value-added services and high-return business model, but this is more of a long-term valuation argument than a direct near-term catalyst. Mastercard: Advanced DuPont Analysis Reveals Value-Added Services Are Built To Skyrocket The Share Price
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard transactions in Cuba are set to be suspended, a reminder that geopolitical and sanctions-related issues can still disrupt some transaction volumes, though the financial impact is likely limited. Visa, Mastercard transactions in Cuba to be suspended, central bank says

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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