Welch Group LLC Raises Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Welch Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $499.71 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $496.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $519.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $441.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to attract investor interest as a trending stock, which can support shares by keeping attention on the company’s earnings and growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted new travel-focused offerings, including its “Priceless Africa” experience, reinforcing its strategy to deepen consumer engagement and build higher-value travel spending across its network. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and MarginEdge launched a commercial charge card for restaurants, a small but potentially useful expansion of Mastercard’s commercial payments footprint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary continues to frame Mastercard as a premium payments company tied to international expansion, but some articles also argue the stock remains expensive and has lagged over longer periods, which could temper enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional pieces focused on broad “what to know” coverage and consumer trends, but did not report a major new catalyst that would materially change Mastercard’s near-term fundamentals. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna reduced their price target 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. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.08.

About Mastercard

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.