Moneco Advisors LLC Buys 4,582 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Moneco Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 138.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,582 shares during the period. Moneco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Montaka Global Pty Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% during the third quarter. Montaka Global Pty Ltd now owns 20,759 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.1% in the third quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 42,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,431,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% during the third quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 522 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its Mastercard price target from $675 to $800 and maintained a “buy” rating. The new target implies about 21.4% upside from the cited $658.91 price, signaling increased analyst optimism. TickerReport article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard will be the card-network partner for Sage’s planned small-business accounts and debit cards, initially being implemented in France with Adyen. The arrangement could broaden Mastercard’s reach among small businesses. Sage partnership article
• Positive Sentiment: Other partnerships include a BMO business credit card in Canada and a Citizens treasury-management service using Mastercard technology, expanding its commercial-card and corporate-services footprint. Business banking partnerships article
• Positive Sentiment: Investor activity has also been supportive: one report said Pershing Square added to Mastercard in the second quarter, while another reported a fund increased its stake by 1,884% in the third quarter. Pershing Square holdings article Fund holdings article
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Michael Miebach described cybersecurity as a major concern for protecting financial infrastructure. The comments highlight an ongoing industry risk, but no specific breach or new Mastercard-related impact was reported. Cybersecurity interview

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $658.91 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $681.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $574.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $595.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $540.39.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus lifted their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Clear Str raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, President Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $709.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 40,916 shares in the company, valued at $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,318 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.43, for a total transaction of $2,774,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,966,872.50. This represents a 10.78% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736. 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, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods. The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.