Walter Public Investments Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Walter Public Investments Inc. cut its Mastercard stake by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,614 shares and leaving it with 44,404 shares worth about $25.35 million. Mastercard remains the fund’s fourth-largest holding.
• Institutional ownership of Mastercard remains very high at 97.28%, and several other funds recently increased their positions in the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Mastercard despite some target cuts, with an average Buy rating and average price target of about $656.04. The stock also recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 15.8% year over year.

Walter Public Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,404 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 4,614 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 4.5% of Walter Public Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Walter Public Investments Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $25,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $631.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Mastercard stock opened at $494.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $436.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $501.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $527.57. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $480.50 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

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

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

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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