Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock: Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Decreases Stake

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lessened its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 38.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 286,931 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 181,425 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 2.6% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $158,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth $25,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded up $9.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $604.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,710,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,513,819. The company’s 50-day moving average is $572.76 and its 200-day moving average is $532.04. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $605.60. The firm has a market cap of $529.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.90 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MA shares. President Capital boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $681.56.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Mastercard’s upcoming third-quarter report to show double-digit earnings growth, reinforcing confidence after the company’s latest quarter exceeded both revenue and EPS expectations. Here’s What to Expect From Mastercard Incorporated’s Next Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its growth opportunities through a new stablecoin initiative on Solana for cross-border payments and a crypto-backed card program with SoFi Tech Solutions and Mexican fintech Orbi. These efforts could increase transaction volumes and strengthen Mastercard’s role in digital-asset payments. Mastercard launches Open USD stablecoin on Solana
• Positive Sentiment: The company and WEX launched an Asia-Pacific fleet-payments network expected to process billions of dollars in annual transactions as it expands across regional logistics and commercial-vehicle markets. WEX and Mastercard partner to unify fleet payments across Asia-Pacific
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced an Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence and additional cyber-resilience initiatives, positioning the company to benefit from rising digital-payment adoption and security spending across rapidly digitizing markets. Cyber Resilience Is the Foundation for Africa’s Next Phase of Digital Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard remains above technical buy points alongside Visa, while digital-wallet adoption and new card products such as OneGold’s precious-metals-backed Mastercard could support broader payment volumes. Mastercard and Visa ride win streaks above buy points
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Julius Genachowski sold a combined 741 shares for approximately $435,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sales modestly reduce his holdings but may not signal a change in management’s outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard and Visa face a reported £700 million UK class-action claim related to post-Brexit fees. Potential legal costs or fee changes could pressure margins, although the ultimate financial impact remains uncertain. Visa and Mastercard face £700m class action

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total transaction of $217,038.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,607 shares in the company, valued at $5,035,181.07. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 40,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 68,359 shares of company stock valued at $39,290,046 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payment transactions, while generally not issuing cards or extending credit itself. Its network supports payments made in stores, online and through mobile devices.

Mastercard’s products and services include consumer and commercial payment cards, digital payment solutions, payment processing, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, identity verification, data and analytics, and open banking tools.