Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Sold by Westwind Capital

Westwind Capital reduced its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,217 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,784 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 4.7% of Westwind Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Westwind Capital’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $19,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Robinswood Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in Mastercard by 113.8% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Monetary Solutions Ltd purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SoFi launched stablecoin-based card settlement on Mastercard’s network and is projecting more than $25 billion in annual volume. The initiative could strengthen Mastercard’s role in institutional digital-asset payments and create additional transaction revenue. SoFi launches stablecoin card settlement on Mastercard
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding offline payment capabilities across Europe, allowing transactions to continue during power or network outages. The feature may improve network resilience and customer value. Mastercard offline payments in Europe
• Positive Sentiment: New collaborations in Bahrain and with gaming platform Tamatem are expanding Mastercard’s small-business, digital-commerce and gaming payment reach in the Middle East. Mastercard and stc pay Bahrain collaboration Mastercard and Tamatem gaming payments
• Positive Sentiment: Autonomous Research made only a minor reduction to its price target, to $686 from $687, while maintaining an Outperform rating. Autonomous Research Mastercard price target

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at $17,781,695.49. This represents a 12.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,873,475. The trade was a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,618 shares of company stock valued at $38,854,630. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $632.00 target price (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $680.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded up $4.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $574.83. 3,391,326 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,521,593. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $601.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $571.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $530.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The company has a market cap of $503.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The firm 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 business posted $4.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is 19.14%.

Mastercard Profile

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 the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payment transactions, while generally not issuing cards or extending credit itself. Its network supports payments made in stores, online and through mobile devices.

Mastercard’s products and services include consumer and commercial payment cards, digital payment solutions, payment processing, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, identity verification, data and analytics, and open banking tools.