Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price Down 2.5% – Should You Sell?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s share price traded down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $653.85 and last traded at $655.6080. 4,935,498 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 40% from the average session volume of 3,516,372 shares. The stock had previously closed at $672.68.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial raised its price target to $735 and reiterated a buy rating. Other firms have also lifted targets after Mastercard’s Q3 results, with some targets reaching $765. Truist price target Analyst target changes after Q3
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is investing in payment adoption and new commerce channels. It participated in a $15 million funding round for firmly, a platform connecting merchants with AI agents, and expanded Samsung Pay availability in Morocco. These initiatives could support future transaction growth, though near-term revenue impact is uncertain. firmly funding round Samsung Pay in Morocco
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard recently reached a 52-week high after a strong monthly run. The rally followed its Q3 revenue beat, but the report notes that much of the move came from a higher valuation multiple rather than materially improved earnings estimates. Rally and valuation analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The sharp run-up may leave MA more vulnerable if earnings growth fails to catch up with its higher valuation. A separate report also flags a CFO warning about “a similar offset in Q4,” pointing to a potential headwind, although the supplied summary does not specify its details. CFO Q4 warning

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MA. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $667.00 to $726.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $701.00 target price (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Mastercard from $722.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $704.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $590.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $537.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $574.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.99 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total transaction of $2,767,197.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,915,750. This represents a 10.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,984,867,000 after purchasing an additional 486,283 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after purchasing an additional 480,725 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after purchasing an additional 42,871 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 17.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,831,763,000 after purchasing an additional 554,366 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,862,527,000 after purchasing an additional 199,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.