Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Trimmed by Brasada Capital Management LP

Brasada Capital Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,323 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 915 shares during the period. Brasada Capital Management LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harvey Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter. Harvey Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745 shares during the period. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH boosted its position in Mastercard by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH now owns 23,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,183,000 after acquiring an additional 3,075 shares during the period. Altarock Partners LP boosted its position in Mastercard by 46.2% during the 2nd quarter. Altarock Partners LP now owns 764,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $392,651,000 after acquiring an additional 241,671 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.5% in the second quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 742.9% in the second quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $591.35 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $547.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $519.09. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.62. The firm has a market cap of $518.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.15 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $701.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $629.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $664.71.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard has restarted international card-payment services in Syria for the first time in roughly 15 years after regulatory changes, potentially reopening transaction-volume opportunities in the country. Visa is also entering the market, limiting Mastercard’s ability to capture the opportunity exclusively. Visa, Mastercard begin first Syria global card payments in years
• Positive Sentiment: A new partnership with Asia-Pacific travel-experiences platform Klook aims to provide Mastercard cardholders with travel benefits and create additional spending touchpoints as experience-led tourism expands across the region. The initiative could support cross-border payments and customer engagement, although financial terms were not disclosed. Klook and Mastercard collaborate to enhance travelers’ experiences across Asia Pacific
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard said CFO Ling Hai will speak at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on September 10. The presentation may offer updates on growth, travel spending and digital payments, but it does not change current financial guidance. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s name appears as a supporter of a Ripple XRPL hackathon, highlighting continued interest in blockchain development. However, the event is not evidence of a major XRP or XRPL commercial rollout by Mastercard. Mastercard’s Name Is on the Ripple Hackathon, But Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary argues that Mastercard’s strong earnings profile and roughly 61% net margin are already reflected in the stock’s elevated valuation. The shares’ retreat after nearing their high may therefore reflect profit-taking and concern that further gains require continued strong execution. Mastercard’s Record Stalls With 61% Margin Already Priced In

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,873,475. This trade represents a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.