HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 42,656 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 491,676 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 42,656 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $252,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Novem Group grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Novem Group now owns 4,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 444 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $632.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $666.64.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s Strive India program has helped small businesses access more than $150 million in credit. The initiative strengthens Mastercard’s role in financial inclusion and could expand future payment volumes in a large growth market. Mastercard Strive India Aids Small Firms With Over $150 Million in Credit
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched its first Start Path cohort focused on agentic commerce, with 22 startups developing technology that enables AI agents to initiate and complete transactions. The effort positions Mastercard to capture a potential new payments channel as autonomous purchasing develops. Mastercard Start Path Launches Inaugural Agentic Commerce Cohort
• Positive Sentiment: Citi Hong Kong plans to introduce a virtual credit card with a dynamic card validation code in partnership with Mastercard. The product could improve digital-payment security and reinforce Mastercard’s technology value proposition. Citi Hong Kong Dynamic CVC Virtual Credit Card Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard expanded leadership for digital acceptance in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and launched travel deals with Klook. Both developments may support merchant adoption and engagement, but are unlikely to materially change near-term earnings. Mastercard Elevates Vanshi Kotru Mastercard and Klook Launch Travel Deals
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares valued at approximately $1.9 million, reducing his direct holdings by 8.18%. Because the transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, it is a limited bearish signal, but it can still weigh on sentiment—particularly with Mastercard trading near a 52-week high and at a premium earnings multiple. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $579.43 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $558.51 and a 200-day moving average of $521.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $507.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.62.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,873,475. This trade represents a 14.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,403,600. This trade 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 sold a total of 74,623 shares of company stock valued at $42,544,606 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Mastercard

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.