Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Holdings Boosted by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,214 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $14,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlatl Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Athena Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $660.63 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $597.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $541.07. The stock has a market cap of $575.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $681.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Latest Mastercard News

These are some of the MA news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target to $764 from $730 and reiterated an “outperform” rating, signaling confidence in Mastercard’s prospects. Read more about Bernstein’s price target
• Positive Sentiment: Other partnerships broaden Mastercard’s business-banking reach, including a BMO commercial card in Canada and Citizens’ treasury-management collaboration using Mastercard technology. Read about Mastercard’s business-banking partnerships
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach highlighted cybersecurity threats to financial infrastructure. The comments underscore an ongoing operational risk but did not describe a specific incident or financial impact. Watch the CEO’s cybersecurity comments

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total transaction of $218,377.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. The trade was a 4.30% 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. Insiders sold a total of 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Mastercard from $722.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Mastercard from $667.00 to $726.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $713.21.

About Mastercard

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.