1,877 Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Willis Investment Counsel

Willis Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,877 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $25,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Premier Financial Group acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 102.6% during the 2nd quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 79 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard introduced Stablecoin Security, an API that combines payment and blockchain intelligence to screen for fraud, scams and sanctions exposure before funds move on-chain. The product could reduce institutional concerns about stablecoins, accelerate adoption and create new risk-management revenue opportunities. Mastercard introduces risk intelligence to enable more secure stablecoin payments
• Positive Sentiment: The company also launched a Global Money Platform integrating stablecoins with traditional currencies for cross-border payments. This expands Mastercard’s potential role beyond card transactions as digital-asset payments gain traction. Mastercard expands stablecoin reach with new money platform
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard unveiled an AI-powered Agent Detection Score to identify transactions initiated by software rather than people. The tool may help manage fraud and trust risks as autonomous shopping agents become more common. Mastercard unveils AI Agent Detection Score
• Positive Sentiment: New or expanded partnerships in East Africa, Pakistan and commercial-payment software, along with Mastercard-branded debit infrastructure for Finsei, support the company’s long-term transaction-volume growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: U.S. officials are pressing China for independent market access for Mastercard’s network. Success could unlock substantial growth, but the timing and outcome remain uncertain. U.S. officials press China on market access
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares worth approximately $2.7 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction modestly weighs on sentiment, although scheduled insider selling is not necessarily a signal of weaker fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard’s valuation is elevated near its 52-week high, leaving the stock sensitive to any slowdown in growth or disappointment ahead of upcoming earnings.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,559.77. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,676 shares of company stock valued at $41,966,586. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $701.00 price objective (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $682.66.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA traded up $4.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $621.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,278,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,501,281. The firm has a market cap of $544.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $577.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $536.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $624.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.14%.

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.