Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its Mastercard stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,672 shares and leaving it with 218,899 shares valued at about $125 million.
• Mastercard reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.60 beating estimates and revenue of $8.40 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 15.8% year over year.
• Wall Street remains bullish on Mastercard overall, with an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $656.04, even though some analysts recently lowered targets slightly.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,899 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 9,672 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $124,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vulcan Value Partners LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $265,233,000 after purchasing an additional 28,331 shares during the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 153.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $130,902,000 after buying an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longbow Finance SA raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 50.3% in the third quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 23,013 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $13,090,000 after buying an additional 7,704 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MA opened at $494.45 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $480.50 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company's fifty day moving average is $501.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $527.57. The firm has a market cap of $436.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price target on Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Macquarie Infrastructure upped their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $656.04.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s BitLicense approval strengthens its ability to build regulated digital asset, stablecoin, and blockchain-based payment infrastructure, which investors may see as a long-term growth opportunity. Mastercard BitLicense Approval Opens New Chapter In Digital Assets And Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage suggesting Mastercard is well positioned in the stablecoin battle, alongside peers like SoFi, Block, and Robinhood, highlights the company’s relevance in a fast-growing payments trend. How Mastercard, SoFi, Block are heating up the stablecoin battle
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat on Mastercard despite recent relative underperformance versus fintech peers, suggesting Wall Street still sees upside in the stock’s fundamentals and franchise strength. How Is Mastercard's Stock Performance Compared to Other FinTech Stocks?
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent valuation-focused commentary notes Mastercard has pulled back from recent highs and trades at a premium multiple, which may keep some investors cautious even as the long-term outlook remains constructive. Mastercard (MA) Valuation Check After Recent Pullback And Premium P/E Multiple
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also announced upcoming investor conference appearances, which is routine corporate communication rather than a major operating update. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences

About Mastercard

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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