Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires 1,568 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 477,833 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,568 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.8% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $238,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aristides Capital LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 23.8% during the first quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 1,808 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 7,771 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,883,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,885 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,910,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA now owns 4,763 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after acquiring an additional 554,366 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced new enhancements to its virtual card platform, including stronger security controls, embedded payments capabilities, and single-API access. This supports growth in B2B payments and could improve adoption of Mastercard’s commercial payment tools. Mastercard Expands Virtual Card Platform with New Security Controls, Embedded Payments Network and Single API Access
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is being highlighted by commentators like Jim Cramer as a “tech company in bank clothing,” reinforcing the market’s view of MA as a high-margin payments compounder with durable growth characteristics. Mastercard (NYSE:MA): Jim Cramer’s “Tech Company in Bank Clothing”
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expectations are building for Mastercard’s upcoming earnings report, with analysts looking for another earnings beat and continued profit growth. That can support the stock if results and guidance confirm strong consumer spending and transaction volume trends. MasterCard (MA) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard is also expanding into the creator economy through a new debit card partnership, which adds another growth avenue but is not yet large enough to move fundamentals on its own. Mastercard Sees the Next Payments Customer in the Creator Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles and market commentary have focused on Mastercard’s valuation, long-term moat, and competitive positioning versus peers like Affirm. These pieces are more about sentiment than immediate catalysts, though they contribute to the mixed tone around the stock. Mastercard vs. Affirm: Which Fintech Stock Has More Room to Run?
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage suggests Mastercard may be less attractive than faster-growing fintech names such as Affirm on a valuation and upside basis, which could temper investor enthusiasm. Mastercard vs. Affirm: Which Fintech Stock Has More Room to Run?
• Negative Sentiment: There is also ongoing speculation about a possible sale of a majority stake in Mastercard’s UK payments subsidiary Vocalink, which adds uncertainty around a key infrastructure asset. Is Mastercard (MA) Cheap Or Fully Valued On Vocalink Sale Talk?

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.92.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA opened at $530.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $507.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $514.85. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $468.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.73 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly 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. 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 90 days, insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Company 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.