Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock: Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Holdings

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services reduced its Mastercard stake by 2.8% in the third quarter, selling 6,085 shares; it held 208,005 shares valued at about $114.7 million at quarter-end.
• Mastercard beat quarterly estimates, with revenue up 14% year over year to $9.81 billion and EPS of $5.31. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $704.62.
• Company insiders sold 25,403 shares worth about $15.4 million over three months; the CFO’s 4,318-share sale was made under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,005 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 6,085 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $114,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 486,283 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,559,779,000 after purchasing an additional 480,725 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,111,216,000 after purchasing an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Mastercard by 5.8% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Mastercard by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after purchasing an additional 554,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,318 shares of Mastercard 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 directly owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $22,966,872.50. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total transaction of $4,296,155.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,613,851.08. The trade was a 15.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736. Company insiders own 0.09% 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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. Freedom Broker downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $725.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mastercard from $720.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, President Capital boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $704.62.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $653.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $593.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $539.12. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $681.99. The firm has a market cap of $572.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The firm's revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

About Mastercard

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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