James Investment Research Inc. Sells 2,318 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

James Investment Research Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,012 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,318 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.1% of James Investment Research Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whelan Financial lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 1,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 134,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $67,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 168,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $84,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,384 shares during the period. XXEC Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 478.9% during the 1st quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 104,321 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $57,784,000 after acquiring an additional 86,299 shares during the period. Finally, Severin Investments LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $522.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $496.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $519.05. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $461.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.73.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.73 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard was upgraded by Piper Sandler to strong-buy, signaling improved analyst sentiment and supporting the stock. The Fly report on Piper Sandler upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is being mentioned as part of the new Open USD stablecoin consortium, which could strengthen its position in digital payments and cross-border settlement if adoption grows. Open USD consortium article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a new cybersecurity centre in Africa, a move that highlights investment in payment security and could support long-term network trust and adoption. Mastercard cybersecurity centre article
• Neutral Sentiment: A commentary piece questioned whether Mastercard trades at a premium valuation despite stablecoin-related developments, but it did not introduce a new fundamental catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate review of a Citi AAdvantage Mastercard credit card is consumer-oriented and not likely to materially affect Mastercard’s earnings outlook. CNBC Citi AAdvantage Globe Mastercard review

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.81.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.