Sterling Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management cut its Mastercard stake by 26.7% in Q1, selling 9,138 shares and leaving it with 25,147 shares valued at about $12.6 million.
• Mastercard’s latest quarterly results were solid: it posted $4.60 EPS on $8.40 billion in revenue, both above analyst expectations, with revenue rising 15.8% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, payable August 7, representing a 0.7% yield; meanwhile, analysts remain broadly positive with an average Buy rating and a target price around $656.08.

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 26.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,147 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 9,138 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 20.0% during the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to attract investor interest as a trending stock, which can support shares by keeping attention on the company’s earnings and growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted new travel-focused offerings, including its “Priceless Africa” experience, reinforcing its strategy to deepen consumer engagement and build higher-value travel spending across its network. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and MarginEdge launched a commercial charge card for restaurants, a small but potentially useful expansion of Mastercard’s commercial payments footprint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary continues to frame Mastercard as a premium payments company tied to international expansion, but some articles also argue the stock remains expensive and has lagged over longer periods, which could temper enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional pieces focused on broad “what to know” coverage and consumer trends, but did not report a major new catalyst that would materially change Mastercard’s near-term fundamentals. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $656.08.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $499.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $441.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The business's 50 day moving average price is $496.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $519.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

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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