Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,696 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,731 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 3.9% of Fairbanks Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Fairbanks Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% during the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 3.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,597 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.92.

Mastercard News Roundup

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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $531.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $469.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $506.56 and a 200-day moving average of $515.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% 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. Insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.