2,017 Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,017 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $39,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Northbridge Financial Group LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northbridge Financial Group LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn FI LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 450.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn FI LLC now owns 435 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. Letson Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Letson Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,537 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 17,146 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,456,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneco Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 138.9% during the 3rd quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 7,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,346,000 after purchasing an additional 4,582 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $658.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $574.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average is $595.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $540.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $681.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.38 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $722.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $701.00 price target (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $667.00 to $726.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $674.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $709.45.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its Mastercard price target from $675 to $800 and maintained a “buy” rating. The new target implies about 21.4% upside from the cited $658.91 price, signaling increased analyst optimism. TickerReport article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard will be the card-network partner for Sage’s planned small-business accounts and debit cards, initially being implemented in France with Adyen. The arrangement could broaden Mastercard’s reach among small businesses. Sage partnership article
• Positive Sentiment: Other partnerships include a BMO business credit card in Canada and a Citizens treasury-management service using Mastercard technology, expanding its commercial-card and corporate-services footprint. Business banking partnerships article
• Positive Sentiment: Investor activity has also been supportive: one report said Pershing Square added to Mastercard in the second quarter, while another reported a fund increased its stake by 1,884% in the third quarter. Pershing Square holdings article Fund holdings article
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Michael Miebach described cybersecurity as a major concern for protecting financial infrastructure. The comments highlight an ongoing industry risk, but no specific breach or new Mastercard-related impact was reported. Cybersecurity interview

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the business’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 directly owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,915,750. The trade was a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total value of $218,377.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. The trade was a 4.30% decrease in their position. 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 a total of 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods. The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.