Wesbanco Bank Inc. Lowers Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank cut its Mastercard stake by 6.2% in the first quarter, selling 3,958 shares and leaving it with 60,062 shares worth about $30.0 million.
• Mastercard beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $4.60 on revenue of $8.40 billion, with revenue rising 15.8% from a year ago.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, payable August 7, representing an annualized yield of about 0.7%.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,062 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 3,958 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.8% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $30,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 250.0% in the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.2%

Mastercard stock opened at $499.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $496.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $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 Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $441.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MA shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $656.08.

Key Mastercard News

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

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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