Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 78,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,937 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $39,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 20.0% in the 2nd 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 increased its position in Mastercard by 0.7% during 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 during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank raised its stake 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 worth $273,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in 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 during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $535.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $473.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $502.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $516.24. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.73 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.14%.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Baird raised its price target on Mastercard to $680 from $660 and kept an Outperform rating, citing expectations for revenue growth to accelerate as comparisons ease. Baird Raises PT on Mastercard (MA) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $640 price target, reinforcing Wall Street confidence in Mastercard’s long-term earnings power after a sector reset. Barclays Initiates Mastercard (MA) Coverage at Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: Several partnerships and network developments show Mastercard’s payment rails remain widely used, including RAKBANK strengthening its relationship with Mastercard and Kraken rolling out a Mastercard crypto debit card in the UK and Europe. RAKBANK and Mastercard strengthen strategic relationship to drive payments innovation Kraken rolls out Mastercard crypto debit card in UK and Europe
• Neutral Sentiment: The House passed a bill that would restrict how payment networks classify firearms retailers, which could create compliance changes for Mastercard but is not yet final law. Congress Vote: The House has passed H.R. 1181 – Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard-related commentary also pointed to ongoing value in the business model, with one analysis saying “the moat remains intact,” while another article noted Mastercard stock looks richer after recent gains and faces pressure from regulation and new competition. The Moat Remains Intact Mastercard (MA) Stock Looks Overvalued On Regulatory Pressure And New Competition

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.78.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 over the last quarter. 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.