First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 25,626 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 78.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,911 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 25,626 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Mastercard by 820.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the company’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 value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Al Etihad Payments announced the launch of the first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card, which could expand Mastercard’s acceptance and deepen its presence in the UAE payments ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Mastercard as a strong momentum stock and a top non-AI pick among retail investors may be supporting sentiment around the company’s durable network model and defensive appeal. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s AI-focused commentary from Jill Kramer frames artificial intelligence as a tool for creativity and insight, but it does not appear to be a direct near-term earnings catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles about Mastercard’s patent work, World Cup payment performance, and a potential Vocalink sale suggest ongoing strategic activity, but the market impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Comparisons with Affirm argue that MA has less room to run because Affirm offers faster growth, lower valuation, and higher analyst upside, which may be pressuring Mastercard’s relative appeal. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Mastercard may sell a majority stake in its UK payments subsidiary Vocalink raised questions about strategy and exposure to critical payment infrastructure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary about Mastercard “betting billions” on technology that could disrupt its own business, plus stablecoin competition headlines, highlight growing long-term competitive threats in payments. Article Title

Mastercard Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE MA opened at $531.82 on Thursday. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $506.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $515.08. The company has a market cap of $469.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.92.

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.