Dearborn Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MAFree Report) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 64,596 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,276,000. Mastercard comprises about 1.5% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its position 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. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the fourth 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. Athena Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% in the second quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Novem Group boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.4% during the second quarter. Novem Group now owns 4,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 444 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Mastercard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Mastercard from $629.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $632.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $664.71.

View Our Latest Analysis on Mastercard

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Mastercard has restarted international card-payment services in Syria for the first time in roughly 15 years after regulatory changes, potentially reopening transaction-volume opportunities in the country. Visa is also entering the market, limiting Mastercard’s ability to capture the opportunity exclusively. Visa, Mastercard begin first Syria global card payments in years
  • Positive Sentiment: A new partnership with Asia-Pacific travel-experiences platform Klook aims to provide Mastercard cardholders with travel benefits and create additional spending touchpoints as experience-led tourism expands across the region. The initiative could support cross-border payments and customer engagement, although financial terms were not disclosed. Klook and Mastercard collaborate to enhance travelers’ experiences across Asia Pacific
  • Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard said CFO Ling Hai will speak at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on September 10. The presentation may offer updates on growth, travel spending and digital payments, but it does not change current financial guidance. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
  • Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s name appears as a supporter of a Ripple XRPL hackathon, highlighting continued interest in blockchain development. However, the event is not evidence of a major XRP or XRPL commercial rollout by Mastercard. Mastercard’s Name Is on the Ripple Hackathon, But Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself
  • Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary argues that Mastercard’s strong earnings profile and roughly 61% net margin are already reflected in the stock’s elevated valuation. The shares’ retreat after nearing their high may therefore reflect profit-taking and concern that further gains require continued strong execution. Mastercard’s Record Stalls With 61% Margin Already Priced In

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider J. Mehra Sachin sold 7,444 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 40,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.68, for a total transaction of $9,439,383.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 115,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,806,033.28. This trade represents a 12.54% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,357 shares of company stock valued at $40,637,262. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $591.35 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $547.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $519.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $518.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Mastercard (NYSE:MAGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.14%.

About Mastercard

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MAFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

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