Wiregrass Investment Management LLC Buys 1,479 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Wiregrass Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 49.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,479 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.8% of Wiregrass Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Wiregrass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,089,000 after buying an additional 9,504 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $130,902,000 after buying an additional 9,795 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in Mastercard by 396.3% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,343,000 after acquiring an additional 36,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $1,328,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Clear Str upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $640.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $653.92.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $537.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $505.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $515.35. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $474.78 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.73 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. 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 currently 20.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the company’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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

More Mastercard News

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

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.