Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Sold by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 42.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,325 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 21,836 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.7% of CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 10.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,559,779,000 after buying an additional 480,725 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in 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 worth $2,111,216,000 after buying an additional 42,871 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Mastercard by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after buying an additional 554,366 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after buying an additional 199,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat expectations: revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion and adjusted EPS increased 21.2%. Services revenue grew 19%, although higher incentives were flagged as a concern. Mastercard’s 19% Services Growth Steals the Q3 Show: Buy or Hold MA?
• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $735 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling potential upside in its view. Truist Financial rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded MA from Buy to Hold, despite lifting its target to $725. The mixed call may temper enthusiasm after the stock’s recent rally. Freedom Broker rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key risk: coverage notes the recent rally has outpaced changes in earnings estimates, leaving less room for disappointment. Rising incentives could also weigh on margins. Mastercard Stock Rose 22% in a Month. Here’s What Its Price Now Assumes
• Negative Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard face additional collective claims in the UK over card fees, adding potential legal and financial uncertainty. Visa and Mastercard face additional £5bn collective claims over card fees
• Neutral Sentiment: The CFO sold about $2.77 million of MA shares. The sale may attract attention, but the report provides no context on its purpose. Mastercard CFO stock sale

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA traded down $2.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $653.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,293,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,281,489. The stock has a market capitalization of $572.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $593.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $539.12. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $681.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total transaction of $2,767,197.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. 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 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 sale, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,403,600. This represents 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. Insiders have sold a total of 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $632.00 price target (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $667.00 to $726.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $704.62.

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.