Vestcor Inc Acquires 3,052 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Mastercard by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 3,052 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 44,046 shares valued at about $25.1 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 97.28% of Mastercard shares held by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Several large firms, including Vanguard, State Street, Geode Capital, Norges Bank, and Capital Research Global Investors, also added to their positions.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic on Mastercard, with an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04. The company also recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $4.60 EPS and 15.8% revenue growth year over year.

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,046 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.7% of Vestcor Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Mastercard were worth $25,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $45,612,087,000 after buying an additional 466,514 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,773,153,000 after buying an additional 349,369 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $6,705,708,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,885,944,000 after buying an additional 629,941 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $656.04.

Key Headlines 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 Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $491.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The business's 50 day moving average price is $499.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $525.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $434.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $3.73 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard 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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