Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Reduced by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,723 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,040 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $30,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,612,087,000 after purchasing an additional 466,514 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,773,153,000 after acquiring an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,885,944,000 after acquiring an additional 629,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,303,015,000 after acquiring an additional 235,403 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard obtained a New York BitLicense, a meaningful regulatory step that could help the company scale its cryptocurrency and stablecoin infrastructure. Mastercard Obtains New York BitLicense for Cryptocurrency Operations
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted the BitLicense win as approval for Mastercard’s digital currency strategy, which may strengthen confidence in future growth from regulated blockchain-based payments. Mastercard wins New York regulatory approval to scale digital currency infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard also disclosed it will participate in two investor conferences in June, keeping management visible to investors and offering another forum to discuss strategy and growth initiatives. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Several interviews and commentary pieces featuring Mastercard executives may help maintain investor interest, but they do not appear to include major new financial guidance or operational updates. Mastercard CTO Ed McLaughlin on Firm’s Goal to ‘Set the Stage for the Future’
• Neutral Sentiment: Other articles discussed Mastercard as a long-term growth stock and its anniversary as a NYSE-listed company, which are broadly supportive but not likely to move the stock on their own.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $495.41 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $501.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $528.21. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $480.50 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $437.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.04.

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.