Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Raised by Rit Capital Partners PLC

Rit Capital Partners PLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 9.1% of Rit Capital Partners PLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Rit Capital Partners PLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $34,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after buying an additional 72,461,743 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Mastercard by 861.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,324,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,648,748 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $497,311,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $537.33 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $505.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $515.35. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $474.78 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MA. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.92.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Al Etihad Payments announced the first co-badged Jaywan-Mastercard credit card, a new partnership that could expand Mastercard’s footprint in the UAE and support payment-network volume growth. Al Etihad Payments, Mastercard launch world’s first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard was highlighted as a strong momentum stock, reinforcing the view that the company still has favorable fundamental and trading characteristics despite recent weakness. Here’s Why MasterCard (MA) is a Strong Momentum Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Lithic introduced a way to make small-business loan proceeds spend-ready, a payments-adjacent product that could deepen Mastercard’s role in SMB finance workflows. Lithic and Mastercard Make SMB Loans Ready to Spend

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976. 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.